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PRINCE CHARLIE, 

THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 




PRINCE CHAELES'S FIRST NIGHT IN SCOTLAND. 



PRINCE CHARLIE, 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK 



MEEIDETH JOHN^ES, '.^^ 

AFTHOE OP THE "bOT's BOOK 05- MODEEN TRAVEL," "CHILDREN'S 
BIBLE PICTUBE BOOK," ETC. 



WITH EIGHT ILLUSTEATIONS BY M. S. MOKGAN. 



" Charlie is my darling, 

The Young Chevalier ! " 

01^ Song. 



NEW YORK : 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 



44S «fc 445 BEOADW: 
M.DCCO.LX. 



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-"- j 1 AU^l 



PKEFACE. 



The fortunes of Prince Charles Edward Stnart and 
his friends have been often narrated. And yet, 
absorbing as is the interest, and striking as are the 
moral lessons with which this fragment of onr 
English history abounds, I am not aware that it 
has ever before, in a separate form, been specially 
brought before young people. Sir Walter Scott's 
labours were equally bestowed upon the two insur- 
rections of 1715 and 1745. A narrative in which 
the latter shall be the principal object, and whose 
facts are drawn from various records, contempora- 
neous and otherwise, while their treatment is origi- 
nal, and expressly designed for the young folks, 
will not, therefore, I hope, be deemed superfluous. 

All history is for our teaching. Hence are duly 
rehearsed in our ears the sacred records of God's 
dealings with the elder world, as shown in their 
history. "We may be assured that our own, though 



6 PREFACE. 

not written with the same infallible certainty, is no 
less significant of Him, if we rightly regard it. 
The events, with their causes and consequences, of 
this episode in our annals with which we are now 
concerned, cannot but teem with meaning to those 
who thoughtfully consider them ; while the young, 
more especially, may learn lessons of courage, de- 
votedness, patience, and fortitude, from these me- 
morials of the last of an ancient royal line, and of 
their faithful followers, who so nobly clung to the 
Stuarts, in the deepest, final misfortunes of that 

hapless race. 

M. J. 

NoTTiNG Hill, 
September 21s^, 1859. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATES. 



Prince Charles's first night in Scotland . {Frontispiece). 

The Battle of Prestonpans, . ... to face p. 60 

Prince Charles receiying the keys of Carlisle . " 81 

The retreat from Derby, " 99 

" Colonel Anne " and her Husband, . . . " 119 
Highlanders receiving the Prince's Farewell 

Message, " 225 

Glenmoriston men swearing fidelity to the Prince, " 304 

Painful Reminiscences and their Effects, . . " 326 



r * '' i . 



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PRINCE CHARLIE, 



THE YOUNa CHEVALIER 



OHAPTEK I. 

The story of Prince Charles Stuart and his bold attempt, 
in 1745, to recover the throne of his ancestors, equals in 
interest any that is to be found in our English history. 
The struggle was short and sharp, but decisive ; for the 
result of his daring enterprise was but to establish the 
house of Hanover in quiet possession of the English 
crown. From that time to the present we have known 
no war at home. Contests abroad have often engaged 
us ; but since Charles Edward and his seven followers 
landed in Scotland, no invading foot has ever been planted 
on our shores. Since Culloden, where the last hopes of 
the Stuarts were crushed, no battle has been fought on 
British soil. 

The royal house of Stuart was a most unfortunate one. 
Many of its sovereigns died violent deaths by accidents, 
1* 



10 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

battle, and murder. The fate of poor Mary of Scotland, 
and her grandson, Charles I. of England, has long excited 
pity wherever it has been known. The cruel death of 
the latter led to further misfortunes in his family ; for his 
sons Charles and James, who afterwards succeeded him, 
were driven into exile ; and, when brought home again 
by a nation weary of its self-chosen rulers, showed them- 
selves just what might have been expected from the sort 
of life their enemies had compelled them to lead. To be 
deprived of a father's care, and hunted and chased about 
in poverty and distress, is not a good training for any 
one, be he king or common man ; and certainly these two 
were none the better for it. Charles, notwithstanding 
his faults, was a very popular king ; but James was ex- 
ceedingly disliked by his subjects, and with very good 
reason. Altogether, he conducted himself so ill that he 
at last lost his crown for it, his daughter Mary and her 
husband, the Prince of Orange, being chosen to reign in 
his place. 

At the time that James was thus deposed he had an 
infant son, who was, of course, the next heir to the throne, 
because, in all civilised countries, sons, however young, 
succeed to their father's possessions in preference to 
daughters, these only inheriting when there are no sons. 
But the people of England were so indignant with the bad 
conduct of James II., that they punished his poor innocent 
child by passing a law to prevent his ever coming to the 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 11 

throne, the right of succeeding to it being made over first 
to his sisters, and then to another branch of the family 
who had a small sovereignty in Germany. 

These two sisters, Mary and Anne, who were much 
older than their young brother, reigned undisturbed. But 
when they were both dead, leaving no children, and the 
Elector of Hanover, George I., became king of England, 
the exiled prince, James Edward, then in his twenty- 
eighth year, at once put foi-th his claim. He had been 
living in France, where the French king, the great and 
powerful Louis XIV., had been very kind both to him 
and his father, acknowledging them as sovereigns, and as- 
sisting to maintain them in a style suited to their rank. 
Indeed, immediately on the death of James II., Louis fitted 
out a fleet to invade England, and assist the Prince, whom 
he had recognised as James III., to recover his dominions. 
He did not do this for mere friendship to those whom he 
thought unjustly treated ; but in the wars on the conti- 
nent in which he had engaged, the English, under Marlbor- 
ough, had done him much mischief, and he longed to strike 
one good blow at them in return. This fleet was, how- 
ever, shattered by storms, and returned to Dunkirk, 
whence it had sailed, without accomplishing anything. 
This was in 1708. By the time that Queen Anne died, in 
August, 1714, Louis had quite changed his mind, and, 
when the Prince hastened to ask his help, not only received 
him very coldly, but desired him to quit France. 



12 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

James Edward, however, had many friends in Scot- 
land, and not a few in England. The Scots loved their 
native prince, one of their own Stuarts ; and then the union 
of their kingdom with England, towards the close of 
Queen Anne's reign, had given great dissatisfaction to 
many. It had deprived them of their parliaments and 
such show of independence as was left them, and they 
feared it would eventually ruin their country. We know 
now that this was a mistaken fear, but it was a very na- 
tural one at the time ; and they thought that the best way 
of preventing what they apprehended would be to bring 
home their own James VIII., and crown him king of 
Scotland. 

James Edward's English friends took up his cause, 
not only because they thought he had been wrongfully 
excluded from the throne, but because he was in some 
degree their native prince also ; for though the Stuarts 
had not reigned so long in England as they had done in 
Scotland, yet they had reigned long enough for the peo- 
ple to feel that they were of their own blood, and not 
foreigners, as were the German sovereigns under whose 
rule they were now passing. We, in our day, should be 
very sorry to change our own queen's family, born and 
bred among us, as their ancestors also have been for 
several generations, for any foreign family, ignorant of 
our ways and doings, ignorant of our very language, and 
evidently preferring their native country to ours. Just 



THE YOTJNG CIIEVALIEE. 13 

SO did the adherents of the Chevalier St. George— that 
was the name he commonly went by — feel on this occasion. 
So, when Queen Anne died, who was loved because 
she was a good queen and one of the old Stuart family, 
numbers both in Scotland and England took up arms in 
order to secure the throne for James Edward. He was 
proclaimed king — James VIII. of Scotland and James III. 
of England — at several places in both countries ; and the 
English and Scottish nobles and gentlemen who had de- 
clared for him, joining their forces, some successes were 
at first obtained. But it was an ill-managed affair alto- 
gether. Their leaders could not agree among themselves, 
and somb of them were not particularly fit for the post. 
The Earl of Mar, the Scottish general, wasted time when 
he ought to have been up and doing ; General Eorster, 
who commanded the English (and whose godmother 
boxed his ears for his joining the rebels), knew more 
about fox-hunting than about military "matters ; arid the 
end of it was the utter ruin of the Chevalier's cause. In 
England the insurgents, after quietly taking several towns 
and as quietly leaving them again — for the Eoyalists did 
not show much fight on the occasion — shut themselves 
up in the town of Preston, in Lancashire. They might 
have defended themselves well here but for Eorster's 
stupidity or want of spirit. When informed of the near 
approach of King George's troops he went to bed, and, on 
getting up again, contented himself with countermanding 



14 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

such orders for the defence of the town as had, while he 
was fast asleep, been issued by his more wakeful and 
thoughtful subordinates. The enemy was at their very 
gates before he chose to believe it ; and after General 
Wills had attacked Preston and done the insurgents some 
damage, this clumsy Jacobite leader, without deigning to 
call a council of war or consult any save a few of his 
immediate friends, sent out to him proposals of surrender, 
a measure that raised such a storm of indignation against 
him, that it is said he would have been cut to pieces had 
he dared to show himself in the streets of the town that 
he was sacrificing. The terms granted were hard enough : 
simply, that the rebels should not be put to the sword on 
the spot, but should be reserved till the king's pleasure 
concerning them was known. Forster, however, accepted 
them, and his whole force laid down their arms. 

They had better have taken their chance, and, as the 
enraged Highlanders proposed, have forced their way, 
sword in hand, through the surrounding troops. They 
were harshly treated to begin with. About a hundred 
of the more considerable among them were taken to 
London for trial, and conducted into the metropolis with 
every circumstance of vulgar, nay, brutal triumph. No- 
blemen and gentlemen were led along with their arms 
tied behind their backs ; the mangled remains of the 
Scots insurgents were cruelly presented to Forster's gaze 
as he entered his prison of Newgate; and as for the 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 15 

king's mercy, on which they had thrown themselves, that 
consisted in cutting off more heads than one likes to think 
of, and afterwards, according to the horrid custom of the 
times, setting them up in various public places. Thank 
Heaven, we can pass under Temple Bar now without 
being afraid of looking up at it. 

To add to the disasters of the rebels, the Chevalier 
himself, for whom they were in arms, did not arrive in 
Scotland, till it was too late for him to be of any use to 
his own cause. He landed from a French vessel at 
Peterhead, a port on the eastern coast of Scotland, within 
thirty miles of Aberdeen, on the 22nd of December, 
1715, having with him only six companions. There was 
disappointment on both sides. His Scottish friends, dis- 
pirited by their defeats at Preston and elsewhere, had 
expected that he would bring them arms, money, and 
men. He had been led to suppose that he should find a 
fine, spirited army, only requiring his presence to lead 
them on to fresh victories. He could not conceal his dis- 
quietude at finding the insurrection all but crushed ; and 
then the troops were offended by his gravity and silence, 
some of them impertinently asking whether the man could 
speak or not. So, instead of being crowned, as so many 
of his ancestors had been, in the ancient palace of Scone, 
near Perth, it was soon decided that he should return to 
France, whence he came. He himself opposed this. He 
would rather have remained to share the sufferings of 



16 PEINCE CHAKLIE, 

those who had lost all in assertmg his rights ; but when 
it was urged that their guilt would be more leniently- 
visited by government in his absence than it would 
be if he stayed among them to excite further suspicion, 
he at once gave way, and then the whole band dispersed. 
The Highlanders, sullen and sorrowful, retreated across 
the frozen Tay to their 0"\vn fastnesses among the hills. 
The Chevalier, slipping away quietly, took ship again, 
and contrived to escape the English vessels that were 
cruising about to catch him by reaching France in a round- 
about way. 

It was a cruel disappointment after so many years' 
expectation. But amid his own distresses James Edward 
did not forget those of others. Before leaving for ever 
his native shores, on which he had only just looked, he 
forwarded to the Duke of Argyle, who had fought against 
him in Scotland, what little was left of his own small 
stock of money ; begging that the duke would use it for 
the relief of those who had suffered from the necessary 
severities practised by his own people in burning some 
villages in order to check the advance of the king's troops : 
for he could not bear to have been the ruin of those whom 
he came, as he thought, to benefit. 

So ended the first attempt to replace the Stuarts on 
the throne from which they had been expelled. Three 
short months decided the matter, and James Edward was 
an exile for life. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. lY 



CHAPTEE II.. 

Five years after the rebellion of 1715 James Edward 
had a son born. He was named Charles Edward, and 
was afterwards known as the Young Chevalier. The 
Scots, whose enthusiastic love he had gained by his 
bravery and noble bearing, used fondly to speak of him 
as Prince Charlie. And the next attempt to restore 
the Stuarts is connected with the name of this gallant 
young prince; who, landing with only seven followers 
on a desolate shore of Scotland, soon saw his father's 
standard waving over the greater part of that kingdom, 
pushed his way into the very centre of England, and might, 
had he not been controlled by more timid spirits, have 
overturned the government, sent George II. back again to 
the Hanover he was so fond of, had James III. crowned 
in Westminster Abbey, and given us a new race oi 
Stuart kings. These things are all past and gone now. 
That royal line is ended, so that we may well afford a 
generous sympathy with the energetic struggle in arms, 
and manly fortitude under suffering, of the Young Chevalier. 



18 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

Charles Edward's mother was a grand-daughter of the 
renowned John Sobieski, king of Poland ; and her son, 
in his best days, showed himself not unworthy of his 
illustrious parentage. 

Of the Prince's early years very little is known, but 
that little is to his advantage. At the age of fifteen he 
served with distinction in the Spanish army. Though a 
mere boy, and war a new thing to him, with balls 
whistling around him, he went composedly about, to the 
great delight of his uncle, the celebrated Marshal Berwick, 
w^ho had undertaken . to bring him out. He appears to 
have been an affectionate son and brother, well princi- 
pled, high-minded. His father's disappointments had 
caused him to abandon all thoughts of again asserting, in 
his own person, what he conceived to be his right to the 
British throne. But as the son grew up to manhood, 
tall, handsome, athletic, brave, generous, and of winning 
manners, the hopes of the Stuart party in England and 
Scotland revived. In 1743 Cardinal Tencin, who was, 
w^hat we now call prime minister, in France to Louis XV., 
determined, to invade England in support of the Chevalier's 
claims, and proposed that Charles Edward, then in his 
twenty-third year, should command the force to be em- 
ployed ; Marshal Saxe, one -of the most distinguished 
generals of the time, being second in command. Fifteen 
thousand stout old soldiers were accordingly assembled 
at Dunkirk, vessels to transport them across the channel 



THE TOIJNG CHEVALIER. 19 

were provided, and also a fleet of men-of-war to protect 
the transport squadron. The design was to land on the 
coast of Kent. All being prepared, Charles left Eome, 
telling his father that he hoped, with God's help, soon to 
lay three crowns at his feet. " Take care of yourself, 
my dear boy," was the reply ; " I would not lose you for 
all the crowns in the world." Dressed as a courier to 
avoid suspicion, and attended by only one servant, the 
Prince cleverly escaped the traps set to catch him by the 
way, both by the Sardinian king and the English admiral ; 
sailed right through the English fleet; and speedily 
reached Paris in safety. The French, however, while 
prompting the enterprise, had not dealt quite fairly with 
him, and he found more diflniculties to contend with than 
he expected. He bravely set himself to meet them, and, 
iafter doing what could be done in Paris, left it for Grave- 
lines, where, for the first time, the white cliffs of his own 
England, to whose throne he believed himself heir, met 
his eyes. With what strange feelings he, an exile, must 
have gazed upon them ! He remained here in the utmost 
retirement for several months, going about like a private 
gentleman, with only a single servant. He even bought 
his own provisions, and, as he writes to his father, for the 
sake of a little fun, haggled with fishwives and others for 
a penny, more or less. 

The fleet at length set sail ; but if the French had 
been busy preparing for the invasion, the English had 



20 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

not been idle. A large force under Sir John Norris was 
collected in the channel ; and the Frenchmen, not liking 
its looks, very discreetly put about ship, and sailed back 
again, without waiting to be attacked. But this was not 
their only misfortune. A violent storm arose in their 
very teeth ; the stately ships of the line were so knocked 
about by it as to have enough to do to take care of them- 
selves ; while the transports were smashed right and left. 
Such as escaped wreck returned to harbour in a sad plight ; 
and the expectations of the Jacobites— the Stuart party 
were so called — and their French friends were utterly 
crushed. It is not the first time that a good hearty storm 
has protected our little island. 

Charles returned to Paris sadly disappointed; and, 
what was worse, the French seemed now to lose heart 
about helping him. It was indeed little they cared about 
him and his fortunes ; but they had at first hoped to damage 
their old enemies, the English ; afterwards circumstances 
rendered them more indifferent on this point, and the 
cause of the Young Chevalier suffered for it. Meanwhile 
his confidence in his Scottish friends was such, that he 
would fain have persuaded an old nobleman. Earl Ma- 
rischal, to sail with him alone for Scotland, even if it were 
only in a herring-boat, convinced that if he but showed 
himself there they would crowd around and support him. 
The cautious old man, however, was not going to trust 
either himself or his prince on any such wild-goose er- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 21 

rand ; and Charles was obliged to yield, as most people 
have to do, to circumstances. Chafing was of no use ; pa- 
tience was difficult, but even kings must practise it. 

The French now treated him more coldly than ever. 
Weary of vainly soliciting their assistance, he at length 
determined to throw himself upon his Scottish subjects 
just as he was, not doubting but that their affection and 
duty would lead them to rally round him when he was in 
their midst. He communicated his resolution to his 
father, reminding him that he was only about to do what 
he himself had done in 1715, bat that the present time 
vv^as one much more favourable to the enterprise. He 
added that if, after all the neglect and ill-usage he had 
received from the French court, he did not show some 
spirit and ability to help himself, he should be unworthy 
the regard of his friends, just as a horse would rightly be 
deemed good for nothing if, on being spurred, it showed 
no signs of mettle ; and he concluded by dutifully beg- 
ging his father's blessing on his enterprise ; for that^ he 
thought, would bring with it God's blessing. 

He had for some time been endeavouring to get together 
money and arms for the undertaking ; for faithful as were 
his Scottish friends, he knew they wanted both these to 
give them a chance of success. He wrote to his father to 
pawn his jewels, for he should wear them with " a sore 
heart" if he kept them while money was wanting for such 
a cause ; yea, he would pawn his very shirt rather than go 



22 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

short of it. Some bankers in Paris, of the name ot 
Waters, advanced him a large sum of money, with which 
he procured muskets, broadswords, powder, ball, and 
other arms. A merchant of Nantes, named Walsh, who 
had been priyateering against the English, was willing 
enough to let him have his eighteen-gun brig, to convey 
himself and the few friends who were to accompany him 
to Scotland. A French man-of-war, the Elizabeth, was 
also by some means or other obtained as a convoy, and 
to cruise on the Scottish coast. On board her the arms 
and money were placed. 

All being prepared, and the Doutelle, which was to 
carry the little party over, lying at the mouth of the 
Loire, the Prince and his followers repaired separately, to 
avoid suspicion, to Nantes, the appointed place of meeting, 
not daring even to recognise each other if they chanced to 
meet there. The gentlemen accompanying Prince Charles 
were, the Marquis of Tullibardine, old and infirm, an exile 
for his devotion to the old Chevalier ; Sir Thomas Sheri- 
dan, the Prince's former tutor ; Sir John Macdonald ; an 
English clergyman named Kelly ; O'Sullivan, an officer 
of the Irish brigade in the service of France ; Francis 
Strickland, an Englishman ; jEneas Macdonald, a Scot ; 
and Charles's valet. They embarked on the 22nd of June 
at seven m the evening, the Prince, for disguise, wearing 
his beard long (his dress was that of a student of the Scots 
college at Paris) ; and sailing to Belleisle, they there 



THE YOUNG CHESTALIER. 23 

awaited their convoy, the Elizabeth. The Prince found 
himself rather sea-sick with this brief salt-water experi- 
ence, hut remarked cheerily that the more he strove against 
it the less it troubled him. After they had joined com- 
pany with the Elizabeth, they proceeded to their destina- 
tion, but unfortunately fell in with a British ship, the Lion, 
of fifty-eight guns, commanded by Captain Brett, a brave 
officer. The two men-of-war instantly engaged ; the 
Doutelle, whose owner w^ould not let her take part in the 
action, lying off at a little distance, looking on. Charles, 
who was on board her, would fain have had his share in 
the encounter ; but Captain Walsh knew better, and was at 
last obliged to threaten to send him below by way of get- 
ting rid of his importunities. 

The fight was hot, the two vessels carrying the same 
number of guns ; but, after five hours' hard work of it, 
both were so knocked to bits as to be incapable of doing 
any more injury to each other. Each sailed away slowly 
and heavily ; and the Elizabeth, being obliged to return to 
port to refit, deprived Charles of his much-prized stores. 

Nothing daunted by this misfortune, the Doutelle pur- 
sued her course to the furthest extremity of the Hebrides. 
Very cautiously did the little vessel make her way along 
those hostile seas. Not a light was to be seen on board ; 
even that required for the compass was so carefully 
screened, for fear of its betraying them to the sharp eyes 
that were on the look-out for them, that not a single gleam 



24 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

from it was visible, save on the trusty, trembling needle 
that guided their course. Once they were chased ; but, 
shaking out every stitch of canvas, they outsailed their 
pursuers. As they neared the coast, an eagle was observed 
slowly sailing on its great wings over the vessel, and the 
old Marquis gaily exclaimed, " Sir, here is the king of 
birds come to welcome your Royal Highness to your 
own country." 

Charles and his friends landed on a miserably wet, 
stormy evening, and passed that night on a small island 
named Erisca, belonging to one of the Jacobite chiefs, 
Macdonald of Clanranald. Their accommodation was any- 
thing but princely. They were all cooped up in one 
little wretched hut ; and the Prince, not being used to 
Highland huts, in which the only chimney was a hole in 
the roof, was nearly choked with the smoke. Several 
times he had to go out for a mouthful of air, so that the 
owner of the mansion, ignorant of whom he was entertain- 
ing, and out of patience with the fastidiousness of his 
guest, who could not sit and stifle like the rest of them, at 
last cried out in a pet, " What a plague is the matter 
with that fellow, that he can neither sit nor stand still, 
neither keep in doors nor out ? " There were here other 
storm-tossed sailors besides themselves, and, as there 
were not beds enough for all, the Prince said he would sit 
up, that others more weary than himself might rest. He 
good-humouredly bestirred himself to take care of Sir 



THE YOUNG- CHEVALIEK. 25 

Thomas Sheridan, going to see what sort of bed they had 
found for him. Seeing the Prince look rather closely at 
the sheets — for he was afraid they were going to put the 
old gentleman into damp ones — the owner of the hut 
somewhat tartly told him that both sheets and bed were 
good enough for a prince. The chief Clanranald, and his 
brother Boisdale — for Highland chieftains are called by 
the names of their estates — were both away at this time ; 
but Boisdale, being sent for, arrived in the morning, and 
immediately waited upon the Prince, who by that time 
had gone on board the Doutelle again. It was a moment 
of anxious suspense for Charles and his followers. Bois- 
dale was loyal and dutiful to his native prince, but he 
was quite hopeless as to the success of his enterprise, and 
implored him to return home, adding that Macleod of 
Macleod, and Macdonald of Sleat, two powerful chieftains 
upon whom the Prince relied, would be far more likely 
to fight against than for him. This was bad news indeed 
for the Prince, with his little body-guard of seven gen- 
tlemen. It was in vain that he pleaded with Macdonald, 
who at last sailed off in his boat, leaving Prince Charles 
to his fate, dejected by this mortifying reception, but 
bravely keeping up his spirits for the sake of those about 
him. 

Disappointed in his first attempt, he determined to try 
his chance elsewhere ; and the Doutelle^ leaving the isles, 
now took her course to the mainland. She came to 
2 



26 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

anchor in a little bay uniting the stern shores of Moidait 
and Arisaig ; and Charles then at once sent off for the 
younger Clanranald, of whose dutiful loyalty to him he 
was well assured. Here were true Highland hearts beat- 
ing for him at last ! Clanranald and some other gentle- 
men hastened with a warm welcome to their beloved 
prince ; but even they, enthusiastic as was their affection 
for him, urged him to relinquish his hopeless enterprise. 
They assured him that without officers, without arms, 
without plan, a rising of the clans at that time would only 
bring ruin upon them all. The conversation was earnest 
on both sides ; and a young kilted Highlander who stood 
near, with broadsword, target, dirk, and pistol, according 
to the full costume of the country, listened with kindling 
eyes and changing colour. When he found that it was 
the royal Stuart, the heir to the throne, who was vainly 
urging the two chiefs to arm in his cause, he grasped his 
sword in such a way as to attract Charles's attention. 
Suddenly turning to him, " Will not you help me 1 " ex- 
claimed the Prince. " I will, I will," was the hearty re- 
sponse ; " though not another Highlander should draw a 
sword for you, I will." The enthusiastic loyalty of their 
young clansman overcame the sturdy opposition of the 
two chiefs which had for three long hours been proof to 
Charles's expostulations, and at once they tendered their 
service to him whom they deemed their lawful prince. 
Charles's appearance on this occasion is described by 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 27 

one who was present as being that of a tall, handsome 
young man, wearing a plain black coat ; a muslin stock 
round his neck, fastened with a plain silver buckle ; a wig 
of light-coloured hair, flowing, instead of being tightly 
curled up according to the custom of those times ; black 
stockings ; brass buckles in his shoes ; and having his hat 
fastened by a string to one of his coat buttons. As it 
was not thought fit, on this occasion, to intrust his secret 
to all the chief's companions, the Prince was simply an- 
nounced, when he made his appearance among them after 
his interview with Clanranald, as one who wished to know 
something about the Highlanders ; so that, though they 
could not help suspecting he was not what he seemed, they 
chatted familiarly to him, in answer to his inquiries as to 
their Highland ways and doings. He was a good deal in- 
terested in the Highland dress which they wore, fancying 
they must be cold in it, and laughing at one who replied 
that he should be cold in any other. When he saw how 
the plaid was wrapped round the body at night, he imagined 
that it must fetter the wearer sadly in case of sudden sur- 
prise ; but the wary Highlander contrives tomuffle him- 
self in such a way as to be able to start up, fully armed, 
in an instant. Finally, calling for a glass of wine, he 
courteously drank to them all, and retired. 

Charles afterwards adopted the Highland dress himself, 
to the great delight of his followers, who loved to see him 
so entirely one of themselves. He wore the short High- 



^ PKINCE CHARLIE, 

land coat of tartan, and the trews, or philibeg ; that is, 
the short full petticoat, not quite reaching to the knee, 
which we call the kilt. His bonnet — the Scotch cap is 
called a bonnet — was blue, with a white cockade (the 
badge of his party, as the black one was of those who sup- 
ported the Hanoverian family), and the star of a Scottish 
order, that of St. Andrew. Among the numerous Scottish 
songs which show how fervent was the love of the Scots 
for their own Stuart race of kings, is one alluding to the 
Prince's Highland costume : — 

" Oh, to see his tartan trews, 
Bonnet blue, and laigh-heeled shoes ; 
Philibeg aboon his knee, 
That's the l\d that I'll gang wi ! " 



THE YOTJISrG CHEVALIEK. 29 



CHAPTEE III. 

Charles's daring and resolution soon kindled the like 
spirit among such of the chiefs as were brought to him ; 
and among the Highlanders in those days, when the chief 
was gained, the whole clan followed. They would have 
thought it shame to do otherwise. Some of the gentle- 
men, indeed, urged that he should seek succours from 
France ; but his spirited and patriotic reply was, that he 
preferred not to owe the restoration of his family to 
foreigners, but to his own poeple, and that he would rather 
skulk about his native mountains with half a dozen trusty 
Scots than return to France. 

The Camerons, Stuarts of Appin, and Macdonalds of 
various clans, known as those of Clanranald, Keppoch, 
Glengarry, and Glencoe, were the first who joined him. 
A small farm, called Borrodaile, belonging to the first of 
these Macdonald chiefs, was his home for a few days 
after his coming ashore on the mainland, attended by his 
seven companions : this was on the 25th of July. A sort 
of body-guard of Highland gentlemen, in their full pic 
turesque costume, was here formed to do him honour, 



30 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

and he presented himself each day to numbers who came 
from the neighbouring glens. The first time that he dined 
with his Highland friends, one of the gentlemen proposed 
the health of the king — King James, of course — in Gaelic. 
Charles, not understanding the language of the country, 
eagerly asked what it was that had raised such a storm 
of cheers ; and, on being told, to the delight of all the 
guests, managed to give the same toast himself correctly. 
That little bit of Gaelic did him great service. Their 
own Stuart, speaking their own tongue, though it was 
but four words — that was quite enough to win the hearts, 
if not already won, of all present. 

The little Doutelle^ meanwhile, was kept hovering 
about with the scanty stock of money and arms which 
remained to the Prince after the disaster of losing the 
Elizabeth, In about a fortnight from his first landing at 
Borrodaile, he ventured to bring these ashore, and de- 
spatched the vessel back with news to his friends abroad 
of his safe arrival and hopes of success. To his father he 
wrote, " The worst that can happen to me is to die at the 
head of such brave people as I find here." 

Remote though that part of the Highlands was where 
these things Avere taking place, they did not entirely 
escape the notice of the officers of the English government. 
The governor of Fort Augustus, one of three forts 
that had been raised to keep the Highlanders in order, 
and situated more than forty miles from Kinloch-Moidart, 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 31 

where Charles was, had tidings of suspicious movements 
there, and sent off two companies of infantry to Fort 
William, which was about thirty miles nearer Kinloch. 
The men were but raw soldiers ; and as they wound their 
way through the Highland glens, where the rugged moun- 
tains hung overhead, and almost seemed to shut them in, 
to their consternation they sudddenly heard the shrill 
notes of the bagpipe, and saw their way, (in a narrow 
ravine,) barred by what appeared to be a threatening 
force of armed Highlanders. There were in reality only 
a dozen of the Macdonalds of Keppoch ; but by their 
agile movements each man seemed to be in two places 
at once, so as to make the little party look twice as large 
as it really was. They did not treat their English friends 
to music only, but gave them, in addition, such a pelting 
shower of musketry as, aided by the advantages of their 
position, soon caused the Eoyals to retreat. Eetreating, 
however, did not do them much good ; for the next thing 
was to fall in with a still larger body of Highlanders, 
under Keppoch himself, on their way to join the Prince. 
Resistance was now impossible ; and Keppoch offering the 
detachment favourable terms, there was nothing for them 
but to lay down their arms. Several of the soldiers had 
been killed, and their commanding officer. Captain Scott, 
was wounded. The Camerons, under their chief, Lochiel, 
coming up at this juncture, took charge of the prisoners, 
sending the wounded ones to Lochiel's own house, where 



32 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

they were treated with the utmost kindness. The governor 
of Fort Augustus, on being made acquainted with Captain 
Scott's condition, somewhat churlishly refused to send 
him a surgeon, upon which Lochiel generously released 
that officer on his parole — that is, his word of honour that 
he would not act against them — to enable him to go 
where he could have proper surgical assistance. That was 
acting like a true gentleman ; for the word gentleman 
means one of gentle manners. 

This was the first blood drawn in the Prince's interest ; 
and the success, small as it was, inspirited the various clans, 
who were now streaming down their hills and valleys, 
to join the royal Stuart. The vale of Glenfinnan, a pic- 
turesque, quiet strip, overhung by rugged mountains, and 
watered' by the slender stream of the Finnan, was the spot 
chosen for setting up the standard of the old line of kings. 

It was about fifteen miles from Borrodaile ; and on 
the 19th of August, Charles, attended by some of the 
Macdonalds, arrived there, expecting to find the whole 
glen swarming with bonnets and plaids. He found 
nothing to disturb the summer stillness of that August 
morning, save the tramp of himself and his escort ; and, 
thoroughly out of heart with his disappointment, he spent 
two gloomy hours in one of the huts, or bothies, as they 
are sometimes called, of the rude inhabitants. Suddenly a 
wild, far-away note was heard ; and then, on the crags 
above him, were seen the bright red tartans of six or seven 



THE TOTING CHEVALIEE. 33 

hundred of the Camerons, who rapidly descended the steep 
hillside, guarding within their ranks, their two troops of 
English prisoners. At first sight of their prince their 
shouts rang among the mountains, and the bagpipes scream- 
ed their loudest to bid him welcome home. On they march- 
ed in two columns, three abreast, with the stately, firm 
tread of mountaineers ; and then Charles's first act in the 
struggle for a crown was performed. The royal standard 
of red silk, with a white centre, which afterwards bore the 
motto, Tandem Triumphans — "At length Triumphant" 
— was solemnly set up on a rising ground in the valley. 
The old and feeble Tullibardine unfurled the flag, and, as 
its heavy folds were shaken out by the breeze, shouts 
again tore the air, the pibrochs were screamed louder 
than ever, and Highland bonnets flew up in the air " like 
a cloud." 

Then was read aloud a declaration from the old Che- 
^'alier, reciting his wrongs, and exhorting his loving sub- 
jects to return to their allegiance under the regency of his 
son, who was now come among them. This was followed 
by a few brave words from Charles himself: he was 
come to conquer, or perish at the head of his loyal Scots, 
who, he well knew, would live or die with him. Among 
the spectators of this " raising of the standard," was an 
English oflicer, who had a short time before been taken 
prisoner. When the ceremony was over, Charles cour- 
teously dismissed him, telling him he was free, and might 
2* 



34 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

tell his general what he had seen, and that the Prince 
was coming to give him battle. 

Others joined the Prince that day, and all camped for 
the night in the valley ; their numbers being swelled by 
the arrival of clan after clan on their next day's march. 

These doings could not, of course, be entirely un- 
known to the government ; but several days passed before 
it was fully informed of them, because some of the wary 
Scotsmen played fast and loose on the occasion. Fearful 
of incurring the displeasure of the ruling powers, they 
forwarded intelligence of the Prince's arrival and inten- 
tions ; but, washing him well in their hearts, they delayed 
their information till it could not do him much mischief. 
This was rather a shabby way of going to work ; but some 
people are naturally shabby, and are apparently quite 
incapable of acting with straightforward honesty. Sir 
John Cope was at that time the commander-in-chief in 
Scotland ; and as soon as he was fairly acquainted with 
the state of things, he set himself to prepare for the worst. 
His force was not large, and part of it was but newly 
raised, so that little dependence could be placed upon it. 
Still it had been the custom among the English to under- 
value the " wild Highlanders : " this led both Cope and 
others to be less on their guard than they would other- 
wise have been, and they paid dearly for their mistake. 

Cope assembled his troops at Stirling, about thirty 
m iles north-west of Edinburgh. They consisted of two 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 35 

regiments of dragoons (Gardiner's and Hamilton's), three 
of infantry, several companies from other regiments, a 
couple of mortars — mortars are great wide-mouthed 
cannon, almost as broad as they are long — and six field- 
pieces. Dragoons in those days were not the smart-look- 
ing fellows they are now. They wore great jack-boots 
like milk-pails, three-cornered cocked hats, curled wigs, 
and great heavy long-tailed coats, more like top-coats 
than anything else, the skirts of which were hooked back 
so as to be a little out of the horseman's way. The 
oddest thing about the infantry was that some of them 
wore caps precisely like exceedingly tall sugar-loaves. 

The march from Stirling took place the day after that 
on which the standard had been raised ; and, besides his 
ordinary baggage, the general had to take with him 
droves of the small black cattle of the country, with 
butchers to kill them, for provisions for his men, so that 
he could not advance with the speed of the enemy. His 
orders were to march northward; and accordingly north- 
ward he went, armed, in addition, with a proclamation, 
offering a reward of £30,000 to any one who should bring 
in the Prince, dead or alive. The Prince was very indig- 
nant when he heard of this : he considered it a mere invita- 
tion, to any one vile enough to accept it, to murder him ; 
and, indeed, it was an outrageous thing. Only fancy the 
Emperor Nicholas, during the late war, offering a few 
thousand pounds for Lord Kaglan Or Marshal Canrobert. 



36 TKIlSrCE CHAELIE, 

" dead or alive ! " Charles declared himself unwilling to 
tempt any one to murder King George, even though King 
George had set him the example. But his advisers, who not 
unfrequently had to do their best to control his generous 
impulses, overruled him, and in return there was offered 
a reward of £30,000 for the " Elector of Hanover, dead 
or alive, if he should venture to land in any of the king's " 
(King James's) " dominions." Of course Charles could 
not style him king of England. 

Poor General Cope's distractions and difficulties were 
great, marching through a district where the people were 
hostile to him, and loved to perplex him with all sorts of 
contradictory intelligence. Nor was this all ; his bread 
and biscuit, and baggage horses disappeared as if by 
magic, no one knew how or where, but gone they were ; 
and the commissariat — that is, the provisioning of troops 
— in time of war is almost, if not quite, as important as 
furnishing them with weapons. He took plenty of these 
latter with him — a thousand muskets with which to 
arm the inhabitants, who were expected to flock to his 
standard. But no one came; and, tired of dragging 
about these useless firelocks, he sent a great number of 
them back again. 

His course was directed towards Fort Augustus, and 
presently he received information that the little High- 
land army was awaiting him at a difficult pass, called the 
Devil's Staircase, in the high mountain of Corryarrack, 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIEK. 37 

which lay directly in his way, and was within twenty 
miles of him. A military road had been constructed 
across this mountain by Marshal Wade, and so precipi- 
tous was it that the summit had to be reached by seven- 
teen zigzags, called in military language "traverses." 
To proceed was impossible, the more so that he had rea- 
son for supposing that another portion of the Highlanders 
was lying in wait to take him in the rear in case of his 
venturing to dispute this passage. Prince Charles him- 
self had been so alive to the importance of securing the 
position, that he made some sacrifices in order to place 
himself in it. A company of Highlanders was hastily dis- 
patched to take possession of it ; while he himself, spite 
of wind and storm, followed them to Invergary, where he 
took up his quarters for the night. When he now heard 
of the approach of General Cope he was so delighted that 
he exclaimed, as he was putting on his Highland brogues 
— ^the " laigh-heeled shoon" of the song — that before he 
unloosed them he should have come up with the English 
general. 

Cope, however, having called a council of war to help 
him out of his perplexities, at last determined on turning 
aside to Inverness, instead of literally carrying out the in- 
structions to proceed northwards, which had led him into 
this scrape. This was taking himself nicely out of the 
way of Charles's getting to Edinburgh ; and when it was 
told the Prince, calling for a glass of brandy, he drank 



38 PEIKCE CHARLIE, 

gaily to the health of "good Mr. Cope," expressing a 
wish that all the usurper's generals might prove as good 
friends to him as he had been. A dram of usquebaugh, 
a peculiar kind of spirit in much use there, was then 
ordered for each man, that he might join in the toast. It 
was done right willingly, as may be well believed, seeing 
that the spirit and the toast were both to their taste. 

Thus refreshed and heartened up, the Prince now 
moved on tow^ards Perth, an ancient city on the south- 
eastern bank of the river Tay, and formerly the residence 
of the Scottish kings ; his little army being constantly 
recruited by fresh accessions on its way. The Duke of 
Perth, who was among those that joined the Prince about 
this time, had just had the narrowest escape possible of 
spending the next few months in prison, instead of fighting 
for the old royal race. The government, aware of his 
disaffection, sent off a party to apprehend him. Captain 
Campbell, who commanded, went rather shabbily to work 
in the matter ; for, calling upon the Duke in an apparently 
friendly manner, leaving his soldiers to follow, he actually 
allowed himself to be invited to dinner by his unsuspect- 
ing host, who had not the slightest idea of the business 
that had brought his guest there. The Duke was polite 
and hospitable, and they enjoyed themselves together till 
Campbell thought his troops had had time to come up ; 
then, rising, and drawing the Duke on one side, he very 
coolly told him that he was a prisoner. Perth was 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 39 

staggered for a moment at the treachery of his guest ; 
but, recovering himself, begged to be allowed to speak 
to a friend apart. The Captain readily granted this ; 
upon which the Duke made his way to the kitchen, 
slipped out at a- back door, and, hastily crossing the park 
just as the soldiers were entering the avenue in front, 
rode off with a single servant right to the camp of the 
young Prince, leaving Captain Campbell to console 
himself by remembering that 

■'• 'Tween cup and lip 
There's many a slip ! 

Such a " slip " served Campbell perfectly right. 

Plunder and disorder too often mark the progress of 
an army ; but, to the praise of these " wild Highlanders" 
who thronged around Charles, it must be said that 
throughout the whole campaign there was a singular 
absence of anything of this kind among them. What 
they had they usually paid for, instead of taking it by 
force, as is sometimes done under such circumstances. 
The Highlanders of those days were very much in the 
habit of not knowing, or not recognising the difference 
between their own property and that of their neighbours : 
but on this occasion it was their interest to abstain from 
giving offence in such ways ; and to insure it the stern 
discipline of the chief, who possessed an almost unlimited 
power over his followers, was unflinchingly exercised. 



40 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

It is said that one of the Camerons, who persisted in 
plundering, spite of commands to the contrary, Avas shot 
by the chief himself. 

Charles marched by his men in the Highland dress, 
and won their hearts, not only by thus sharing their 
fatigues, and sleeping like them on the ground, wrapped 
up Highland fashion in his plaid, but by speedily picking 
up little scraps of their language — the Gaelic it is called — 
and addressing them in it. He called for Scottish tunes, 
professed to like Scottish dishes, could stand a long march 
on foot of sixteen or seventeen miles as well as any of 
them ; and his simple people were delighted to find that 
in their native prince they had no Italian milksop, but 
a hearty Scot. 

On the 4th of September he entered Perth, took 
quiet possession of the town, where he was joyfully 
welcomed, and next day proclaimed his father as King 
of England, Scotland, and Ireland. At the same time he 
published his father's commission appointing himself 
Regent of the kingdom. 

At Perth he received some important additions to 
his followers, including Lord George Murray, who be- 
came one of his most distinguished generals. Lord 
George was brother of the Marquis of Tullibardine, one 
of the seven who accompanied Charles to Scotland, and 
who, from the place of their landing, were afterwards 
known as the " seven men of Moidart." Men they were 



THE YOUNa CHEVALIER. 41 

indeed in their devotion to him whom they deemed their 
lawful prince ; for 

*' Loyalty is still the same, 
Whether it win or lose the game ; 
True as the dial to the sun, 
Although it be not shone upon." 

Lord George Murray was not only an able com- 
mander, but one whose personal qualities were calculated 
to put heart and spirit into his men. In the fight his fine 
tall figure might be seen rushing on, sword in hand, at 
the head of his fiery Highlanders, into the very thickest 
of the enemy. He was not one who commanded his 
men to go, but who bade them follow him. The two 
words make a world of difference. This plan, it must be 
owned, would not well suit modern warfare, with its 
minie rifles, long ranges, and wonderful great guns, that 
can almost shoot round a corner. Here^ usually, the 
best thinff that a general can do is to sit on his horse 
quietly at a distance, issuing orders ; and his most effec- 
tual weapon is his telescope. But it was just the way to 
lead Highlanders a century ago, for they trusted mainly 
to their good banging broadswords; and well they fol- 
lowed their gallant chief. Lord George also performed the 
additional service of bringing a considerable number of 
his brother's tenantry into the field. Some of the clans, 
it is true, turned sturdy, and refused to arm at the com- 



42 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

mand of their chiefs ; and one of them, it is said, was in 
such a rage at the obstinacy of his people that, by way 
of punishment, he positively forbade their reaping their 
own corn, or suffering their beasts to eat it in the field. 
Strange to say, such was their habit of obedience, that 
there the wheat was left, tiil Charles hearing, as he rode 
along, the reason of this dismal sight of food wasting, dis- 
mounted, and himself pulling a good armful for his 
horse, told the people that they might safely get in their 
corn now, as he had set them the example. Such a story 
may give a good idea of the power of a Scottish chieftain 
of that time. 

Charles raised a sum of £500 from the people of 
Perth. It was time to -replenish his purse, for he is 
said to have made his triumphant entry into the city 
with only one guinea in his pocket. His Edinburgh 
friends also sent him money ; while those who were not 
his friends contributed, through fear, what others had 
done for love. A party of the Macdonalds, who were 
scouring the country around Perth to see what they 
could pick up for him, made a most valuable prize at 
Dundee, where they seized two vessel-loads of arms 
and ammunition, and confiscated them for the Prince's 
use. There was a twofold good involved in this cap- 
ture ; for while it strengthened their own cause, it 
weakened that of the enemy. Nor was the drilling of his 
somewhat raw recruits neglected during his eight days' 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 



43 



stay here. A simple drill was that of the Highlanders ; 
none of your modern " heads up," " toes out" kind of 
thing, but how to strike hard with the claymore, cover 
the body with the target, and then rush in, dirking the 
foe with the left hand, while the right wielded that 
terrible broadsword. They had muskets likewise, but 
always threw them away after the first volley, trusting 
to chance either to pick them up again, or to find fresh 
ones among the spoils of the vanquished enemy. 
Charles, accustomed to more orderly evolutions, could 
not help smiling occasionally at the extraordinary ma- 
noeuvres of what he pleasantly called his " stags ; " taking 
care, however, not to let the " stags" hear what he said. 
Here, too, the men were furnished for the approaching 
campaign with precisely the same provision as that 
which the rough-fighting Scots, who ravaged the north 
of England in Edward III.'s days, carried with them— 
each a bag of oatmeal. This mixed with a little water, 
and hastily baked on the ashes— nay, in an emergency 
eaten raw, just as it was— formed sufficient nutriment for 
these Highland warriors. Even in these days, in some 
parts of Scotland, a popular dish is composed of oatmeal, 
well stirred up with boiling water. Troops who can 
feed in this way are not men to be easily beaten. 
Lighter matters also claimed Charles's attention in the 
good city of Perth ; and one way of making himself 
agreeable to his new subjects— such the poor Prince 



44 PEINCE CHAKLIE, 

deemed them — was by giving a ball to the ladies of the 
place. Proud and pleased were they, whoever they 
might be, who had the Stuart for a partner in the dance. 
But, alas ! there is nothing perfect in this life ; and, to 
the consternation of the white cockade-wearing ladies 
of this ancient town, the Prince, after going through a 
single dance, took his leave, to attend to the sterner 
duty of visiting his sentries. 

Things here all looked bright and promising — increas 
ing forces, trained in rather more soldierly fashion than 
they had been, replenished money bags, enthusiastic 
greetings ! And so hopeful was the Young Chevalier 
that he bade a London tradesman, to whom, with 
others, he had granted a safe conduct for travelling 
through the disturbed districts, tell his friends in town 
that he expected to be among them in a couple of 
months. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 4:5 



CHAPTER lY. 

The city of Edinburgh stands finely. Its time-worn 
castle crowns a precipitous height, accessible only on one 
side, and from which a gradual slope, of a mile in length, 
leads to the ancient palace of Holyrood. The appearance 
of the city from a distance has been well described as that 
of a lion couchant, the town forming the recumbent body, 
and the castle, with its rocky base, representing the bold 
shaggy front of the beast. The surrounding country is 
picturesque, diversified with hill and valley ; while the 
beautiful Firth of Forth, whose broad stream, at the time 
of which we are writing, lay nearly two miles to the north 
of Edinburgh, now almost washes its walls. Thither- 
wards, on the 11th of September, Charles moved his force 
from Perth ; for it was a great object with him to gain 
possession of the capital of Scotland. 

That little Highland army, winding its way through 
the country, then beginning to show the first tints of 
autumn, must hctve presented a striking spectacle. It was 
composed of numerous clans. There were to be seen the 
gay plaids and the oak badges of the Camerons ; the so- 



4:6 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

berer green and simple heather-bell of the Macdonalds ; 
the juniper sprig and dark tartan of the Murrays ; the 
holly of the Drummonds ; with other variously chequered 
plaids and philibegs, which, with the distinguishing badge 
of the family, pointed out the different Highland clans. 

The badge was worn in the " bonnet " — not the mon- 
strous thing, looking like the plumes of a nearse, that we 
pile up on the unfortunate heads of our Highland regi- 
ments ; but a small, comfortable woollen cap, made either 
round, and slightly fulled into a band, or without band, 
and sloping away at top from the forepart — an excellent 
head-dress, and as useful by night as by day to the cam- 
paigner. A man could not make even a tolerable night- 
cap of these same hearse-plumes ; while the genuine bon- 
net, pulled well down over the brows, and with a pair of 
fierce Highland eyes glaring under it, looks quite soldierly 
enough for action. 

No fine military band regulated the steps and cheered 
the march of these bold mountaineers ; no kettle-drums 
and trumpets had they ; but screaming, droning bagpipes 
poured out their wild strains, in a style infinitely more 
agreeable to a Highlander ; for those uncouth sounds, 
which are utterly abominable to an Englishman, are, in 
his ears, the sweetest of all possible music. Their cavaL 
ry, of which they had a mere handful, exhibited just the 
commonplace uniform of dark blue, turned up with red 
— English, or rather French fashion. 



I 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 47 

Tlie route chosen by Charles was a roundabout one, 
which led him to a ford high up the Forth. Gardiner's 
dragoons had been posted here to prevent his passage, 
but they retreated on his advance. It would have been 
a much shorter road to cross lower down, but the Prince 
could not take it for fear of the men-of-war lying in the 
deep stream. Besides, he wished to give a wide berth 
to Stirling Castle, which overlooked the winding of the 
Forth, while its guns did something worse than overlook 
the river : they actually swept the bridge over which the 
Prince's army must have passed but for this circuitous 
route. On returning towards the capital along the east- 
ern bank of the river, after crossing the ford, the insur- 
gents passed so near Stirling Castle that they were fired 
upon from the walls, and several shots fell within a few 
yards of the Prince. The march occupied several days. 
The first night a halt was called near Dumblane, in whose 
neighbourhood was fought, during the insurrection of 1715, 
that battle of Sherifimuir, the gaining of which was 
claimed by both parties, while each in their secret soul 
thought, with shame, that they had lost it. Passing by 
Doune, then the ford, and over the celebrated field of 
Bannockburn, near which they camped, brought them 
to Falkirk. Here they bivouacked for the night in the 
broom fields, Charles being the guest of the Earl of Kil- 
marnock, at Callander House. Linlithgow was their next 
halting-place, where Charles, expecting that the dragoons, 



48 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

who had continued slowly retreating before him at a re- 
spectful distance of half a dozen miles, would turn and 
withstand him, prepared for a skirmish. The dragoons, 
however, continued to execute their favourite military 
movement of a retreat, so that there was nothing to bar the 
Prince's entrance into Linlithgow, by whose inhabitants 
he was warmly welcomed. The provost, or chief magis- 
trate of the town, though in his heart wishing well to 
Charles, had, indeed, taken himself off before the Prince 
entered ; but his wife and daughters made some amends 
for his lack of zeal by wearing tartan, and mounting the 
white cockade, and, thus loyally attired, kissing the 
Prince's hand. Whether the old gentleman had desired 
them to pay the homage he dared not, or whether, when 
he came back again, he would scold them heartily for 
running him into danger (for now and then papas and 
husbands suffer for the misdoings of their wives and chil- 
dren), there is no knowing. Charles was afterwards right 
royally entertained at the palace, an ancient structure, 
where Mary of Scotland was born — that unfortunate 
queen whose very birth was greeted with lamentation in- 
stead of rejoicing ; for when told that he had a daughter, 
her father groaned out that " the kingdom came with a 
lass, and would go with a lass ! " 

That night the insurgents camped within twelve miles 
of Edinburgh ; the next morning's march brought them 
ten miles nearer, and then the thing began to look serious. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 49 

Edinburgh was by no means so well affected to the 
Prince as was his good city of Perth ; and the town being 
miserably prepared for defence, the inhabitants were in a 
terrible fright when they heard that he was coming. Peo- 
ple ran hither and thither, dragged about a few useless 
cannon, and held meetings, and raised volunteer corps, 
whose courage, like that of the bold dragoons, " oozed out 
lit the palms of their hands " on Charles's near approach. 
One gentleman led out his company briskly enough ; but 
ere they had gone far, unfortunately turning his head to 
see if others were follow^ing his valiant example, lo ! his 
own troop had disappeared, leaving him to proceed, if he 
liked, almost " alone in his glory." There was no stand- 
ing this sort of thing. 

Those in the city who were opposed to the Prince 
comforted themselves by thinking that Cope, who was 
now on his slow way back from the Highlands, might, 
after all, arrive before the enemy. His troops also had, 
of course, to cross the Firth of Forth to reach Edinburgh, 
and vessels had been sent for to convoy them ; but the wind 
being contrary, many anxious eyes were directed to vanes 
and weather-cocks, in hopes of seeing them veer round to 
the right direction; and their fears were in no degree 
allayed by the arrival, rather hurried than otherwise, of 
some of Cope's dragoons, who had again modestly retired 
at first sight of the Prince's advanced guard. At last, 
when it was known that the Prince and his Highland men 
3 



50 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

were actually within a few miles of the city, the fire-bell 
was hastily rung, and a meeting called together to decide 
whether they should resist, or give up the city quietly. 
While they were discussing the matter, to their consterna- 
tion, in came a messenger bearing a letter from Charles, 
in which he demanded their immediate surrender. If a 
bomb-shell had fallen among them they could not have 
been more startled, and it was at once determined to send 
a deputation to the Prince to entreat for time to think 
about it. Nobody seemed to have a spark of courage on 
this occasion. The dragoons, in whom they had put such 
trust, were about the greatest cowards of all. They and 
the town guard had been posted about a mile from the 
city, at a place called Colt-bridge. The cavalry were 
drawn up in the form of a crescent, under their colonel, 
Gardiner, who, being in feeble health, is described as 
muffled up in a blue great coat, with a handkerchief tied 
over his head underneath his cocked hat. A Highland 
skirmishing party, riding up to have a look at the sol- 
diers, popped their pistols at them as a thing of course. 
Instantly, round wheeled these red-coated heroes, heedless 
of their officers' endeavours to make them stand their 
ground ; scampered off as fast" as they could ; and never 
drew bridle till they had placed some miles between 
themselves and their imaginary pursuers. 

The Edinburgh people, peering anxiously from theii 
almost defenceless walls, had the satisfaction of seeing 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 51 

their protectors execute this masterly retreat, which was 
afterwards ludicrously known as the " Canter of Colt- 
brigg." As might be expected, when they knew of what 
poor stuff their soldiers were made, they lost heart alto- 
gether ; and when it was put to the vote, " Defend the 
town or not," all except two said, " Not." Some gentle- 
men were accordingly sent to the Prince to propose con- 
ditions of surrender. The Prince, in reply, gave them to 
understand that the declarations which he had already 
issued in his own name, and that of his father, were quite 
sufficient ; and if they wanted other terms they were not 
likely to get them. Once or twice they went and came 
on their fruitless errand ; and at the last time of returning, 
the Cameron Highlanders, taking advantage of the Neth- 
erbow Port being opened to admit the carriage, rushed in, 
seized the gate and the guard, and the city was theirs in a 
trice. Pouring in, they spread themselves through the 
streets, and by five in the morning had mustered strong in 
the Parliament Close, the castle still remaining in the 
hands of the garrison. 

It was done very quietly. As one describes it, they 
simply relieved guard. And some queer guards they got, 
too ; for an old Highlander appointed to this duty was 
afterwards found solemnly astride a cannon (the " mus- 
ket's mother," in his country speech), by way of fulfilling 
his notion of what keeping guard was. 

The Lowlanders — Edinburgh is in the Lowlands — had 



52 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

never particularly loved their Highland neighbours, and, 
now that they had become their masters, liked them less 
than ever. Not that the conquerors, if we must give 
them that name, particularly misconducted themselves, 
though it is said that sundry " bawbees" — that is, half- 
pennies — and pinches of snuff were extorted from the 
trembling citizens, not at the point of the bayonet, but at 
the muzzle of their rude firelocks, by the Highland sol- 
diery. But then they were dirty and ragged, and talked 
Gaelic, instead of broad Scotch ; they were ill-armed, 
many of them with rusty pikes, instead of decent, soldier- 
ly muskets, a circumstance that rendered their easy cap- 
ture of the city more provoking. And, to sum up all, 
they were their masters for the time being ; and that in 
itself was quite enough to render them " disgustful " to the 
Royalist citizens, had they been twenty times more civil- 
ized than life in the hills and wilds had left them. 

At eight in the morning the Prince rode forward to 
enter his capital, the remainder of his army being en- 
camped between Salisbury Craggs and Arthur's seat. 
He was accompanied by the Duke of Perth and Lord 
Elcho ; and in order to keep clear of the castle guns, the 
castle being still held for government by General Guest, 
took his route south of the town, and at a little distance 
from it. His approach to Holyrood was by a path for- 
merly a favourite one with James II. of England, when 
Duke of York ; and vast numbers flocked to see him and 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 53 

cheer him to his heart's content. He was in Highland 
dress, wearing a tartan coat; a blue sash embroidered 
with gold ; a green velvet bonnet, with gold band and 
white cockade ; red velvet breeches ; and the jack-boots 
worn by the cavalry of that period. By his side was a 
silver-hilted broadsword, and Highland pistols peeped out 
from their usual lurking-place in his sash. His appear- 
ance, both by friend and foe, is spoken of as being strik- 
ing and prepossessing. His figure was tall and well 
made, " as straight as a lance," the face oval and slender, 
fresh-complexioned, with small mouth, high nose, and 
well-arched eyebrows. One would like to add the colour 
of his eyes to complete the portrait ; but as one historian 
says they were brown and another light blue, one cannot 
altogether decide between the two positively, though our 
own leaning is in favour of the light blue assertion. He 
wore a light-coloured flowing wig, with which his own fair 
hair mingled harmoniously. Altogether, the Prince — 
" bonnie Prince Charlie'" — was as handsome a fellow as 
one may see on a summer's day. But there was some- 
thing more than beauty to attract the gaze of his faithful 
Scots. They traced, or thought they traced, in his fea- 
tures, the lineaments of his great ancestor Eobert Bruce ; 
and while the air rang again with their shouts, their deep- 
er feelings were expressed by the kisses, nay, even the 
tears, which were bestowed on the very boots of the Young 



54 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

Chevalier. No wonder that he smiled with pleasure on 
such affecting demonstrations of loyalty and love. 

After enjoying it for a short space he took horse again, 
and, surrounded by a guard of aged Highlanders, moved 
on to the palace of his ancestors. Just as he set foot on 
its threshold, the troops in the castle, anxious to spoil 
sport, if possible, levelled a gun at him, and the ball hit- 
ting one of the towers, brought down a shower of stones 
and mortar about the ears of those in the courtyard. 
Tliat, however, was the amount of the mischief. Nobody 
was the worse for it. The Prince passed on unmoved ; 
and a grey-haired gentleman, named Hepburn, stepping 
forward at that moment, flashed out his broadsword, and, 
raising it on high, thus preceded him up the stairs of the 
palace. 

Towards noon a movement might have been seen in 
the neighbourhood of the Town Cross of Edinburgh, for 
thither the interest was now tending. James VIII. was to 
be proclaimed, and the Highlanders having caught the 
real, genuine heralds, tabards and all, the ceremony was 
performed with all solemnity. There, with a guard of 
Camerons three deep round the ancient structure, it was 
declared, amid shouts and waving of kerchiefs, that James 
VIII., King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Erance, 
greeted his loving subjcts ; and, pitying their sufferings 
and degradation under a foreign usurper — so George II. 
was styled — was come in the person of his son to their 



THE TOTNG CHEVALIER. 55 

rescue, forgiving all treasons against himself, save to such 
as should now oppose him in arms, and promising rewards 
to those who should aid him. Further, it was commanded 
that all his loyal people from the age of sixteen to sixty 
should immediately repair to his standard, and that those 
who had collected any public money for the government 
of the Elector of Hanover should at once yield it up to 
him, its lawful owner. Numbers accordingly did flock to 
the standard there and then ; perhaps the more so that 
Mrs. Murray, the wife of him who was afterwards 
Charles's secretary, and an exceedingly beautiful woman, 
sat on horseback by the Cross, distributing the white 
cockade — the Stuart badge — to such as were ready to 
pledge themselves to the Prince's service. 

In the evening a ball was given in Holyrood palace, 
and Scottish royalty for a brief space seemed revived 
again. Charles was able to give rather more time to the 
ladies of Edinburgh than he had been at liberty to bestow 
on those of Perth ; and there was a gay throng that 
night at Holyrood. But all have passed away, and 
Prince and subjects alike lie in their quiet graves. 

The brave doings at the Cross, and brief splendour ot 
the old halls of Holyrood, were all very well ; but there 
was rougher work in the background. That unfortunate 
General Cope, with his thrice valiant dragoons, the heroes 
of the " Colt-brigg Canter," was hovering about, in hopes 
of falling in with the insurgents somewhere or other, and 



56 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

getting a chance of a " brush" with them at last. He 
was soon to have it, and Preston Pans was to be the scene 
of the encounter. 

The Prince, whose troops had not only been increased 
in number, but refreshed by abundant food, clothing, and 
other necessaries, during their stay in the city, hearing of 
Cope's approach, marched out to meet him. Drawing 
his sword as he placed himself at the head of the column, 
Charles exclaimed, " I have flung away the scabbard ;" 
and loud cheers greeted this welcome announcement. The 
two armies came in sight of each other on the 20th of 
September, near the village of Preston Pans, which has 
its name from the number of salt pits in the neighbour- 
hood. The Prince's army was drawn up on a gentle emi- 
nence, having that of Cope in the plain before him, but 
separated from him by what appeared to be a perfectly 
impassable morass. The General had posted himself well. 
On his right hand was some ground enclosed by stone 
walls, six or seven feet high, between which ran the road 
to Preston. The ground in front was surrounded by a 
deep ditch full of water, a marsh stretched away to the 
left, and the sea was at his back. All seemed as snug as 
possible. The two armies looked at each other for a 
while, cheered (the winners of the Colt-brigg race distin- 
guished themselves particularly at this exercise), and then 
after trying to outmanoeuvre each other, as night came on 
they lay there on their arms. The Royalists bade " good 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIER. 



57 



night" to their friends over the way by throwing a few 
cannon shot among some of the Prince's people, who had 
taken military possession of the churchyard of Tranent. 

Admiring each other's position, however, was poor 
work for men who had come to fight out their quarrel. 
And yet, how to get at General Cope over that quag- 
mire? Fortunately for the Prince, a gentleman in his 
army, of the name of Anderson, was well acquainted 
with this ground, having frequently hunted over it ; and, 
mentioning what he knew to a friend, the information 
was thought so important that the Prince was waked up 
from the bundle of peas-straw on which he was sleeping, 
to be told of it. Anderson's report of there being a path 
by which the morass might be crossed was found, on 
examining the field, to be correct ; so the Highlanders 
were roused from their plaids among the stubble, formed 
in column, and, stealing along in the dark of an early 
September morning, at dawn found themselves safe at 
the other side of the morass. It was not a particularly 
easy transit, scrambling and floundering about in mud 
and water. The Prince himself, in attempting to leap 
a ditch, came down on his knees, and had to be dragged 
up by one of his aides-de-camp. 

The two armies, now on the point of closing, were 

very differently equipped for the coming struggle. The 

Royalists, superior in numbers, were so also in cavalry, 

in artillery, and other arms. Against Cope's six field- 

3* 



58 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

pieces the insurgents could only set one ridiculous gun, 
drawn in a cart by little Scotch ponies, and of no earthly 
use whatever, save that its discharge announced the 
march or halt of the host. Charles, who knew what 
civilised warfare was, would fain have left this cumbrous 
and inoffensive w^eapon behind ; but his Highlanders 
would by no means lose their artillery. The greater 
number of his men were of course accoutred, Highland 
fashion, with that terrible broadsword, pistols, firelocks 
of various kinds, dirk, and target. These were formed 
in the first line; but there were many who had no 
better weapon than a sort of quarter staff or cudgel. 
One officer armed his troops with scythes fastened to 
long poles ; and terrible execution did these innocent 
agricultural tools perform. The second line was com- 
posed of those thus imperfectly armed. 

But " the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to 
the strong." We shall see how this affair, where the 
advantage was apparently so much on the Royalists' 
side, ended. 

In drawing up the Prince's army, some little difficulty 
occurred, owing to the Macdonalds insisting on their 
forming the right wing. The Stuarts and Camerons 
thought they had an equally good claim to this post of 
honor ; and some time was spent in quarrelling before 
the latter showed themselves the more sensible fellows, 
by ceasing to contest the point. They preferred doing 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 69 

their duty to their prince to squabbling about their own 
fancied superiority ; so the Macdonalds were humoured 
with the best place, and then there was nothing to 
hinder the fighting out of the matter. The officers 
repaired to their several commands ; Charles in front of 
the second line, bidding his friends follow him, and with 
God's blessing, he would that day make them, " a free 
and happy people." 

The advance was made by the first line of the Prince's 
army, consisting of about twelve hundred men. These 
at first crawled forward on their knees, as though they 
were stalking deer, hoping, though not much caring 
about it, to surprise the enemy. They were perceived 
by his videttes, who at first, in the dusk, thought it was 
a hedge that they saw. Hedges, howeverj usually stand 
still, and the slow movement of this dark line soon con- 
vinced these gentlemen of their mistake ; so, firing their 
pistols to give the alarm, they fell back on their main 
body. That moment up sprang the hedge, and, with 
Lord George Murray at its head, rushed on at such a 
pace as scarcely left the Royalists time to form. Those 
dragoons — we know what sort of fellows they were 
— were soon brushed aside, and at once the fierce 
Highlanders were at the infantry. According to their 
mode of fighting, they threw one withering volley into 
the very faces of the enemy ; then dashed into their 
midst, cutting right and left with the broadsword, 



60 PKINCE CHAELIE, 

catching bayonet points in the target, and, thus entang- 
ling them, slipped under, and plunged their dirks into the 
bodies of the foe. 

The cavalry, as we have said, could not stand for a 
moment before this attack. They not only turned, but 
fled as rapidly as they did at Colt-brigg, and with rather 
better reason. Could hard riding have won the day, it 
had been theirs. Not even could their colonel, the 
brave old Gardiner, bring them to the charge ; and the 
other regiment, Hamilton's, ran after them for company. 
The infantry had better stuff" in them than these pitiful 
horsemen. A mere handful of them were seen fighting 
desperately, with their backs to Gardiner's park wall; 
and the colonel, deserted by his own men, rode up to 
head them, exclaiming, " Those brave fellows will be 
cut to pieces for want of a commander." But, after 
cheerily bidding them " fire away, and fear nothing," he 
was almost instantly brought down by one of those 
dreadful scythes, and then the men gave way. The rout 
was total, and almost instantaneous. Four or five min- 
utes swept the whole royal force off" the field so com 
pletely, that the second line of Highlanders, under the 
Prince himself, though charging at a run, could not get 
up in time to have a single stroke at the enemy. The 
Prince would fain have headed the first line ; but his 
was a life too valuable to be risked in that way, and he 




THB BATTLE OF PKESTON PANS. 



THE YOrNG CHEVALIEK. 61 

yielded to the wishes of those about him, \vho cared for 
him more than he did for himself. 

The Royalists ran helter-skelter, flinging away their 
arms on every side. Cope made an attempt to rally 
his cavalry, but it was useless. He was borne oflT with 
them ; and away they clattered, ducking, to avoid the 
shot that came whizzing after them. It was in vain the 
poor general tried to subdue one fear by means of 
another and more pressing one. With his pistol at 
some of their stupid heads, he at last frightened them 
into making a stand at a considerable distance from the 
field of battle ; but it was only for a minute. Suddenly, 
pop went one of their own pistols by accident, and 
instantly off they set again, carrying him with them. 
Nor did they stay till, straining at full speed up the 
High Street of Edinburgh, they were brought up by the 
castle gates. Here — and it served them right — they 
were refused admission, General Guest threatening to 
fire upon the dastards if they did not take themselves 
off as quickly as they had come. Cope, whose own 
soldiers sneered at him, it is said, made his way through 
the Highlanders with a white cockade in his hat, and 
finally got away to England, where he was the first to 
bring the news of his own discomfiture. For this he 
was afterwards unmercifully quizzed by the Jacobites. 
One of their old songs drolly tells the story of his vaunt- 
ing and ridiculous defeat. 



62 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

" It was upon an afternoon 
Sir Johnie march'd to Preston town ; * 
He says, ' My lads, come get you down, 
And we'll fight the boys in the morning.' 

" But when he saw the Highland lads, 
Wi' tartan trews and white cockades, 
Wi' swords and guns, and rungs and gads,* 

Johnie took fright in the morning. 

** Sir Johnie into Berwick rade. 
Just as ill luck had been his guide ; 
Gie him the world, he'd not have staid 
To have fought the boys in the morning. 

" Say the Berwickers unto Sir John, 
' what's become of all your men ? ' 
' In faith,' says he, ' I dunna ken ; 

1 left them a' this morning.' 

" Says Lord Mark Kerr, ' Ye are no blate 
To bring us the news of your own defeat ; 
I think you deserve the back of the gate : 
Get out of my sight this morning ! ' " 

The whole wound up with a sort of triumphant chorus 
of— 

"Hey, Johnie Cope, are ye waken yet, 

Or are ye sleeping, I would wit ? 

haste ye, get up, for the drums do beat ; 

fie, Cope, rise in the morning ! " 

* Gads— ox-goads. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 63 

The panic of the royal troops on this occasion is 
quite unaccountable, and almost incredible. One slip 
of a Highland lad was brought before Charles as having 
slain fourteen soldiers. When asked if it were indeed 
so, he replied simply that he did not know whether he 
had killed them, but he had cut down fourteen of them 
with his sword. Another Highlander, pursuing some 
half dozen or so of the enemy along the road to Preston 
which ran between the stone walls, suddenly hallooed to 
them, " Down with your arms ! " enforcing his com- 
mand by a good sword stroke at the last of them. 
Down went their arms at once ; and then, when quite 
defenceless, they had the pleasure of finding out that 
they had been " surrounded " and taken prisoners by 
one man, who with sword and pistol at their backs 
drove them on before him. 

The formidable appearance of the king's army when, 
as the morning mists rolled away, the early sunshine 
sparkled on their arms, and showed in a moment their 
compact, well-ordered array, had rather disheartened 
some of the Highland officers, so that their unexpected and 
complete success cheered them all up amazingly. The 
Prince was seen after the battle standing by his horse, 
to which his cuirass was attached, in the highest possible 
spirits. In allusion to the Highland custom of throwing 
down the plaid before charging in order to leave the 
limbs unfettered, he exclaimed laughingly, "My High- 



64 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

landers have lost their plaids ; " these being, of course, 
left behind in the peas-straw, where he and they had 
reposed so luxuriously the night before. His dress on 
this occasion was that of any ordinary officer, consisting 
of a course plaid, scarlet waistcoat, with narrow gold 
lace, and a large blue bonnet ; his boots and knees 
bearing traces of his tumble into the ditch. 

Both he and his officers did all they could to check 
the slaughter of the enemy as soon as the battle was 
fairly at an end. Lochiel, the chief of the Camerons, 
sprang on a swift race-horse of his, and, riding through 
the field " like an arrow," to restrain his men, saved 
many lives. The prisoners, of whom there were great 
numbers, and the wounded, were treated with the utmost 
humanity. It was noon before the Prince left the spot, 
where he had remained giving directions for the care of 
the wounded of both armies, for whose assistance he 
had sent off to Edinburgh for surgeons ; and when sur- 
rounded on that ghastly moor with the dead and dying, 
one of his followers said to him exultingly, " Sir, there 
are your enemies at your feet," his only reply was one 
of pity for his father's poor deluded subjects. Having 
attended to the wants of others, Charles had leisure to 
think of his own, and lunched cheerfully where he was, 
it is said, on Cope's cold beef and wine. His dinner 
the day before was coarse broth and meat. To drink 
the broth he, the Duke of Perth, and another officer, 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 65 

had only two wooden spoons ; while they were com- 
pelled to cut up the meat of which it was made, with a 
butcher's knife, and feed themselves with their fingers. 
These being the hotel accommodations of the little village 
inn of Tranent. 

Lord George Murray ably seconded the Prince in 
his care for the wounded prisoners, showing himself as 
humane as he was brave. Indeed, it has been said that 
none but cowards are cruel ! Even the common men 
showed a spirit that could scarcely have been expected 
from " wild Highland men," as their Lowland and Eng- 
lish neighbours w^ere pleased to call them. Some of 
these poor fellows were seen, after the battle, running 
off to one of the neighbouring villages to procure cordials 
for their w^ounded enemies. One king's soldier who 
was badly hurt, w^as carried to a place of safety on the 
stout back of a Highlander, who, when he had set him 
down, gave him a sixpence to pay for his lodging. 

As for plunder, that of course was all fair game; 
nobody could be expected to refrain from that, and 
there were some droll things in connection with this 
plundering. Eagged Highland men and boys were 
strutting about in the fine laced clothes and cocked hats 
of the English officers. Some chocolate found among the 
General's baggage was hawked about by these simple 
folk from the hills, as "Johnny Cope's salve," One 
Highlander, who had possessed himself of a gold watch, 



66 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

sold it the day after for a small sum, remarking 
triumphantly, on the close of the bargain, that the 
"creature had died the night before." Of course the 
sagacious vendor knew nothing about winding up a 
watch, and the fact was that it had run down for want of 
it ; while another was at the pains of carrying off upon 
his back, to his distant home among the hills, a large 
military saddle. What on earth he would do with it 
when he got it there, one cannot possibly conjecture. 
Only imagine a little Highland pony under so ponderous 
a machine ! 

The victory being fairly gained, the Cameron High- 
landers marched back into Edinburgh to the Jacobite 
tune of " The king shall enjoy his own again." One may 
fancy how the pipes would shriek and scream till their 
wind-bags were nearly burst. In their tumultuous joy 
some of the Highlanders fired small salutes from 
their muskets. Unluckily one of them, in his delirium, 
had either popped a ball into his piece, or, being loaded, 
had forgotten to draw this part of the charge before 
letting it off; and the shot grazed the brow of an en- 
thusiastic Jacobite lady, who from her balcony was 
welcoming the victorious troops. Eecovering from the 
momentary insensibility caused by the blow, her first 
words were, " Thank God, it has happened to one of my 
well-known principles ! Had it been to a Hanoverian, 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 67 

people would have said it was done on purpose." That 
was a fine spirit, — for either man or woman. 

The Prince spent the night at Pinkie House, the 
seat of the Marquis of Tweedale, and not far from the 
scene of action, reserving his formal entry into Edinburgh 
for the next day. 



PKINCE CHARLIE, 



CHAPTEE Y. 

The day after the battle of Preston Pans, or of Glads- 
muir, as it is also called, that being the name of the heath, 
Charles, with the remainder of his army, made his trium- 
phal entry into Edinburgh again. The long files of re- 
joicing Highlanders were followed by an imposing array 
of prisoners, and the much-prized treasure of seven stand- 
ards of the vanquished host. Pew people in this world 
are satisfied. With the entire defeat of the King's troops, 
and the capture of so many standards, it might be thought 
the Prince would have been well content ; but he was not. 
He wanted to have had all the royal standards. 

His reception by the people of Edinburgh, however, 
was one that left him no cause of complaint. They 
flocked around him with shouts of joy ; and again, a 
second time, was his father, as James VIII. of Scotland, 
and James III. of England, proclaimed at that old High 
Cross. There was some reason for this. The first procla- 
mation asserted a right ; the second, something very like 
a fact, so far, at least, as Scotland was concerned ; for the 
recent victory had laid almost the whole of that kingdom 



THE YOUNa CHEVALIER. 69 

at his feet, while in England, those who cared for it, were 
beginning rather to tremble for the Hanoverian succes- 
sion. Edinburgh was not the only place where the res 
toration of the old Stuart line was formally proclaimed. 
The ceremony was performed in almost all the towns in 
Scotland. At Aberdeen, the provost, a staunch Hanover- 
ian, refusing to drink King James's health at the cere- 
monial, had the glass of wine poured down his breast : an 
indignity of which that loyal man afterwards complained 
bitterly. He would have almost preferred a slash 
with one of the broadswords held over him, as that would 
have been something respectable to complain of More 
substantial benefit accrued to the Prince from the taxes 
and other public dues being now^ levied for him. Glory 
was pleasant, but money was the " sinews of war." 

Public rejoicings for his victory were forbidden on 
account of the great slaughter of his father's subjects — so 
of course he deemed them — ^who had fallen in arms against 
him ; but on the evening of this eventful day Charles 
received his friends again at the palace, and again those 
long-deserted halls put on their old royal appearance. 
Being thus apparently reinstated at Holyrood, the Prince 
did all in his power to reassure such of the citizens and 
Scottish people generally as had not embraced his cause, and 
to do away with any impression that they might have of his 
being there by conquest. He himself called it coming 
*'home ;" and he wished them to regard it in the same light. 



70 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

So he put out various proclamations, promising, as "before, 
pardon to all who had taken arms against him, provided 
that within a certain time they came to make their submis- 
sion. The bankers, who had fled, money-bags and all, to 
the castle, were invited to return and carry on their busi- 
ness as usual ; and the clergy of the city, whether friendly 
to the Stuart or not, were desired to continue their ordi- 
nary ministrations. The only stipulation was that they 
should not pray, as formerly, for King George by name, 
but simply, for " all Christian kings." These gentlemen 
were not, however, disposed to avail themselves of the 
Prince's consideration : most of them took themselves off, 
leaving their congregations to do the best they could 
without them. One Presbyterian minister, however (they 
were all Presbyterians of whom we are writing), named 
M'Vicar stayed, behind, and, being close under the castle 
guns, ventured to pray for King George as before. He 
certainly at the same time complied with the Chevalier's re- 
quest for the prayers of his Presbyterian subjects, but after 
a fashion which would not have been partcularly acceptable 
to the Prince had he heard him. " As for this young man 
who is come amongst us, seeking an earthly crown, we 
beseech Thee in mercy to take him to Thyself, and give 
him a crown of glory." Charles had previously assured 
the clergy that if they would only remain and attend to 
their duties, they should not be endangered by any im- 
prudent language used in the pulpit ; and the sincerity of 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. Yl 

his promise is evidenced by this singularly impertinent 
prayer passing unnoticed, though some Highland officers 
were present at the time. 

The castle still held out against the insurgents, and 
occasioned no little trouble, not only to the Prince, but 
to the townspeople. The Prince, by way of compelling 
the surrender of the garrison (for of course he did not like 
such neighbours), had absolutely fordidden all communica- 
tion between it and the town. General Guest, whose pro- 
visions were brought in that way, in return threatened to 
clear the road with his cannon. The next thing was some 
interchange of shots between the Highland sentries sta- 
tioned to enforce Charles's commands and the troops on 
service in the castle. And then cannon were played down 
the street, and houses were set on fire, and all sorts of 
mischief done. There is a classical saying familiar to all 
schoolboys about " Scylla and Chary bdis ;" and there is a 
pungent Scottish proverb — "Between the deil and the 
deep sea" — which just means the same thing. And be- 
tween the shots from the castle, intended for the High- 
landers, and those which they returned to it, the unfortu- 
nate citizens were precisely in the position indicated by 
these old sayings. They were literally between two 
"fires," which is the plain English of the other two 
phrases ; and they did not at all like it. In fact, it was 
intolerable ; the more so that at the same time they were 
getting peppered by an English vessel lying in Leith 



72 PEIN€E CHAELIE, 

Roads. So, after some communications had passed 
between the General and Charles, touching this matter, 
the good-natured Prince relieved the poor harassed citi- 
zens by taking the blockade off the castle. He preferred 
leaving the fortress in the hands of his enemies, to causing 
distress and loss of life among those whom he deemed his 
own people. 

Spite of the inconvenience and danger arising to them 
out of this blockade, while it lasted, it is said that the cit- 
izens could not at times help laughing to see the Royalists 
and Highlanders hunting each other about; first one 
party, and then the other, popping out of their hiding- 
places, musket in hand, and then as quickly popping back 
again. No doubt each made game of the other on these 
occasions. How the Royalists " twitted " the Highland- 
ers we do not know ; but when the houses were flaring 
up, all a-light, the Highlanders took their revenge by call- 
ing out, " Look there at the Hanover moon ! O that we 
could get at those fellows ! We would soon make them 
fly to their holes again for shelter." 

While Charles was in Edinburgh, he was urged to send 
one of his Preston prisoners to London, to propose an ex- 
change of the prisoners taken by both sides during the war. 
He was also pressed to add to his proposal a threat, th'at 
if it were not accepted, and if any of his followers, who 
fell into the hands of the English government, were put 
to death, he would do the same to such prisoners as he 



THE YOTJNG CHEYALIEE. 73 

took. It was pleaded with him that, if he would only 
consent to this, one or two examples would be quite suf- 
ficient to make the Eoyalists consent to the exchange. 
Charles's reply to all this was worthy of a prince. " It is 
beneath me," he said, " to make empty threats, and I will 
never put such as these into execution. I cannot, in cold 
blood, take away lives that I have saved in the heat of 
battle." 

It is to be regretted that many of these prisoners 
behaved very shabbily in return for the humane and 
courteous treatment which they received. The officers 
among them were at first confined in the house of the 
Duke of Queensbury ; but they were soon liberated on 
giving their word to mix no more in the quarrel, at 
least for a twelvemonth. One of them the very next 
day broke his promise, by going to the castle, which 
was still kept by General Guest. His comrades, fearing 
this would lead to greater restraints upon their own 
liberty, inveighed loudly against his dishonourable con- 
duct; but most of them did the very same thing as 
soon as they got an opportunity. This was disgraceful. 
For any one to tell a lie is bad enough ; but i\ peculiar 
disgrace is always supposed to attach to military men 
who break their parole, or word of honour. The reason 
for this is plain. If a man's word cannot be trusted, 
he must, when captured, be shut up closely in prison. 
To many of the private soldiers the Prince gave money 
4 



74 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

to take them home ; for he was now in better funds 
than he had been, supplies having come from France, 
in addition to the sums of money which had been levied 
on various towns, or presented to him by his friends. 

The city was also required to furnish six thousand 
pairs of shoes, two thousand targets, and one thousand 
tents for the use of his troops. He was anxious not 
only for the military efficiency, but for the comfort of 
his men. So, to oblige him, they condescended to use 
the tents ; though, had they been left to follow their 
own tastes, they would much have preferred lying on 
the ground as usual, wrapped up in their plaids. Con- 
cerning these same tents there is. a pleasing story told 
of the Prince. It seems there was some difficulty about 
furnishing the required number by the time appointed ; 
so a gentleman was sent from Edinburgh to Pinkie 
House, to see Murray, the Prince's secretary, on the 
matter. When he got there, Murray was nowhere to 
be found ; upon which Charles, hearing what was amiss, 
at once desired the messenger to be brought to him, say- 
ing he would rather attend to the business himself than 
detain the gentleman ; with whom he most accommoda- 
tingly arranged the affair. 

During the Prince's six weeks' stay in Edinburgh 
his time was spent uniformly enough. A lev^e for his 
friends and officers was the first business of the day ; 
then came a meeting of his council. It was sometimes 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. Y5 

long, and not very harmonious. When that broke up 
he dined in public with his officers, freely, on these occa- 
sions, admitting even the lower order of people to see 
him ; a condescension with which they were not a little 
pleased. A small matter makes royal popularity. 
After dinner he rode to his camp at Duddingstone, a 
mile south-east of Edinburgh, sometimes preferring a 
tent and his plaid for the night there, to the more 
stately four-posters and heavy velvet hangings of a 
palace bedroom. In the evening a drawing-room was 
frequently held at the palace ; and after the public had 
been admitted to see him at supper, as at dinner, the 
day was wound up by a ball. At these entertainments 
his dress was such as became his rank. Sometimes 
it was national, a rich silk tartan, and those same 
crimson velvet breeches of which we have already 
heard. Occasionally, he appeared in an English court 
dress, very like that which may now be seen any drawing- 
room day in St. James's Street, and wearing the star 
and other decorations of the Order of the Garter. The 
cross of the ancient Scottish Order of St. Andrew was 
also one of his common decorations. The motto of this 
order is. Nemo me impune lacessii — " No one injures me 
with impunity ; " and for a while the poor Prince made 
it good. 

Charles did not dislike his Holyrood life, and would 
sometimes jestingly say that, when he came to the 



76 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

throne, Scotland should be his Hanover, and Holy rood 
his Herenhausen. This was in allusion to King George's 
well-known preference for his German dominions and 
palace ; a preference that was not particularly agreeable 
to his English subjects. Kings are miuch to be pitied. 
Every one of us has often, of course, to conceal his own 
feelings and tastes, out of consideration for those of 
others. Nor to do so would show an unformed and 
selfish character. But above all others must royal per- 
sonages do this. Their subjects' fancies, not their own, 
nor even their most sacred feelings, must guide their 
conduct. 

Still, though this mixture of court and camp life was 
not unagreeable to Charles, he longed for more prompt 
and active exertion in his great undertaking to win back 
his father's crown. After his brilliant success at Pres- 
ton, he was anxious to make his way to England with all 
speed. Had he followed his own impetuous will, and 
marched thither at once, while the panic into which 
he had thrown the whole country was fresh, it might have 
been the better for his cause ; but he was overruled by 
his leading officers, who found out all sorts of reasons why 
he should not do so — reasons to which he was forced 
to yield, whether he thought them good ones or not. 
Here, again, we see that kings and princes cannot 
do as they will. Indeed, some of Charles's friends 
would fain have had him be content with Scotland 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIEK. 77 

alone, which he had now pretty well secured, and leave 
England to itself. The Prince was indignant at this 
proposition. Indeed, a couple of sovereigns to our little 
island of Great Britain would, in these modern times, 
have been like " two bites at a cherry ; " and his advisers 
at length reluctantly came mto his views. It was, how- 
ever, only his spirited declaration that go he would, 
though he went alone, that induced them to give way. 
Even the common Highlanders had a strange super- 
stition against crossing the "border" as the line of 
separation between the two countries was called ; so 
that it is said to have cost Charles, on one occasion, an 
hour and a half's hard tallying to induce them to advance 
in the dreaded direction. The boundary once passed, 
they drew their swords with an exulting shout; but as 
in unsheathing his weapon one of their chiefs cut his 
hand, the elated spirits of the clansmen instantly sank 
again ; for to their superstitious minds such an accident 
foreboded ill-success to their Prince's enterprise. 

The Prince's army was, however, benefited by this 
delay, and marched out of Edinburgh southwards, in 
much better condition than it had marched in. The 
order for this eventful march was given on the evening 
of the 31st of October, when Charles left Holyrood, 
spending the night at Pinkie House, about half a dozen 
miles from the city. His army left Edinburgh next day. 
Besides the large addition to his Highland infantry 



78 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

received there, he had also got together some very 
respectable cavalry, a force in which he had been much 
wanting before. Had he had it at Preston, the victory 
would have been much more crushing to the Royalists. 
When an army, great or small, is in full flight, it adds 
amazingly to the speed and distraction of its troops, 
to have flying parties of horsemen dashing after them. 
The dragoons at Preston certainly did not require it. 
They could not have run much faster, or further, if they 
had had the finest cavalry in the world at their heels. 

Charles's horse now consisted of a troop of life 
guards, commanded by Lord Elcho, eldest son of the 
Earl of Wemyss ; hussars, under the Earl of Kilmar- 
nock ; and the Angus horse, headed by Lord Pitsligo — 
about five hundred in all. The uniform of the life 
guards was blue and red. . The others dressed as they 
best could — it was no time for standing on ceremony — 
and armed themselves as they pleased. Artillery had 
also been received from France ; so that instead of the 
solitary " musket's mother," ignominiously dragged 
along in a cart, with which they began the campaign, 
they now boasted some civilised field-pieces, with 
trained artillerymen to work them. Baggage-wagons 
and horses brought up the rear. 

In order to mislead Marshal Wade, who had been 
gathering together troops to keep him out of England, 
where the people were now in a regular fright, the Prince 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. T9 

contrived to make it supposed that the Scots would enter 
it by way of Northumberland, while, in fact, they took 
the road to Cumberland in two bodies, making right for 
Carlisle, where they were to meet. This stratagem suc- 
ceeded so well that Wade, who was at Newcastle, watch- 
ing that route as a cat would watch a mouse-hole, let 
them come in quietly the other way ; so that the columns 
of the Scots' army all met comfortably near Carlisle on 
the 9th of November, the day appointed. What a state 
the old gentleman must have been in when he found how 
neatly they had given him the slip ! 

The main body of the army encamped on Brampton 
Heath, about eight miles from Carlisle. No time was 
lost in getting to work, as the garrison was at once sum- 
moned to yield — of course, as usual, to its lawful sover- 
eign, James III. The answer was a discharge of shot from 
the castle. This not being considered at all encouraging, 
it was determined to make it surrender ; and a party was 
marched out to Corby and Warwick Parks to cut wood 
for scaling-ladders and fascines. A fascine is a faggot, or 
tightly bound up bundle of stout brushwood, and is used 
for various military purposes, such as filling up the ditch 
of a fortress, or for laying on marshy ground to enable 
troops to pass over. They then proceeded to open their 
trenches, breaking ground near what was called the Scots' 
Gate. A false report of Wade's being after them drew 
away a considerable portion of the besiegers for a few 



80 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

days, leaving a small force to carry on these operations 
before the castle. A heavy fire soon drove them back ; 
hut advancing again, under cover of a thick fog, they 
made a second attempt at the English Gate, which ap- 
peared to give better hopes of success. It was " all hands 
to the great cable." They caught some of the country 
people, and set them to w^ork a-digging ; while the Duke 
of Perth and Lord Elcho themselves, wrought in the 
trenches with their coats off, to hearten the men. When 
all their preparations were complete, the attack was made 
in three places at once, the force that had been hunting 
Wade having now rejoined their companions. The vigour 
of this assault struck such terror into the inhabitants, that 
numbers of them jumped over the city walls, six feet high, 
and nearly as many broad ; scrambled through the ditch, 
five feet wide, and made off" for the open country, many 
of them being taken prisoners in the attempt. The gar- 
rison, exhausted with fatigue (the poor \vretches had been 
seven days and nights on guard), and the inhabitants, 
frightened nearly out of their lives, between them com- 
pelled the governor, whose stout heart would have led 
him to stand some more hard knocks, to hang out the 
white flag, and seek terms of surrender. It is said that a 
threat of throwing red-hot shot into them, helped not a lit- 
tle to bring the garrison to so speedy a submission. But 
it was a mere threat ; for the besiegers were actually 
afraid of firing a single gun, lest the Royalists should find 




PRINCE CHARLES RECKIVINQ THE KEYS OF CARLISLE. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 81 

out how miserably unfit for its purpose was their batter- 
ing-train, which consisted, in truth, of four-pounders — 
mere baby cannon ! However, the castle being but a 
tumble-down sort of a place, the threat answered its 
purpose; and city and fortress were yielded up to 
Prince Charles, the garrison being obliged to swear not 
to serve against him for a twelvemonth. The keys were 
formally presented to Charles at Brampton by the mayor 
and aldermen, who knelt before him as they surrendered 
their charge of the good city of Carlisle. The Duke of 
Perth, whose division was the first to enter, made himself 
as agreeable as possible to the discomfited Royalists, shak- 
ing hands with the soldiers, and calling them " brave fel- 
lows." He would have liked to enlist some of these 
" brave fellows " for the Prince's army, but did not prove 
very successful as a recruiting-ofiicer. The inhabitants 
generally were well treated. On hearing of the siege 
of Carlisle, Marshal Wade marched out his troops for its 
relief; but, like the king of France in the story-book, 
" marched back again." The weather was terrible : snow 
three feet deep ; and those rough country roads, through 
which their poor weary feet managed to tramp something 
like a track, freezing, till stumbling among broken ice was 
the change from plunging in snow-drifts. The conse- 
quence of this slow, painful march was that Carlisle had 
fallen ere they could reach it ; and in a pitiable plight they 

returned to Newcastle. 
4* 



82 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

The insurgents lost only one man during the siege of 
this important town, whose capture proved a sad damper 
to the royal cause. The people of Whitehaven, a port 
on the Cumberland coast, who had been preparing for 
defence, changed their minds when they heard what had 
befallen Carlisle, and sent away their artillery on ship- 
board, lest it should fall into the hands of the enemy. 
They had no fancy for having their own guns turned 
against them. So altogether there was a tolerably open 
road before' the Prince to push his way further into 
England. 

Two hundred men were left at Carlisle to keep what 
they had taken ; and the rest of the army, amounting to 
between four and five thousand men, marched off on the 
20th of November, shaping their course towards Lanca- 
shire, where the Prince confidently expected his friends 
would rise in his favour. For convenience of forage the 
march was performed in two divisions ; the Prince, on 
foot, leading the second division, which was chiefly com- 
posed of Highlanders. He, at least a king's grandson, 
was as hardy as the best of them. One good meal at 
night, which did double duty, being at once supper and 
dinner, sufficed him ; and then, simply wrapped in his 
plaid, he would throw himself down for a few hours' sleep, 
rising again by four o'clock of those dark and frightfully 
cold November mornings, to pursue his march. For the 
weather was decidedly Hanoverian, and by its unusual 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 83 

severity, did its best to stop him if he would have taken 
the hint. It is true he had a carriage ; but in that he 
deposited one of his cavalry colonels, who was too old 
and feeble to bear the toils that Charles cheerfully shared 
with the very humblest of those who followed the red and 
white standard. How he must at this time have exult- 
ingly looked at its motto, " At length triumphant ! " 

Footing it in this fashion, twenty miles a day, soon 
wore out the soles of his royal shoes, and not having a 
second pair at hand, he was obliged to have one of them 
patched. A neighbouring blacksmith soon set the mat- 
ter right for him by nailing a slip of iron over the hole ; 
and the damage repaired, Charles said to him pleasantly, " I 
believe you are the first that ever shod the son of a king." 

Passing rapidly by way of Kendal, Shap, and 
Lancastar to Preston, that town was entered on the 
seventh day after leaving Carlisle. The Prince was well 
received here. But Prest«n was rather an ominous- 
sounding name to the Jacobites. They could not forget 
how Forster's incapacity or cowardice, or both, had there, 
thirty years before, led to the ruin of their cause, and the 
horrible heading and hanging of so many of their friends. 
They had a sort of superstition that now, as then, they 
should get no further ; so, by way of putting that fancy 
out of their heads. Lord George Murray immediately 
marched a body of them over the bridge across the Kib- 
ble, and let them take up their quarters on the other side. 



84: PRINCE CHAELIE, 

While here, a Scotch sergeant, who had had no luck at 
all in beating up for recruits in the town, asked his captain's 
leave to go at once by himself and try his fortune at 
Manchester, which was considered particularly well affect- 
ed to the Stuarts. As might be expected, with a rebuke 
for his folly, the captain bade him return to his troop. 
Upon this the sergeant thought proper to take what is 
called " French leave," and set off on foot, attended by a 
drummer, and having a girl, who, like many others, had 
mounted the white cockade, in their company. They 
walked all night, entering Manchester next morning, when 
the drum was clamorously beaten, and the Prince's ser- 
vice boldly proposed to the lads and men who crowded 
wonderingly round the strangers. It was at first taken 
for granted that the army was close at the heels of this 
singular advanced guard ; but when it became known that 
it was still a day's march behind, the increasing throng 
was disposed to lay hands oiiWihe bold sergeant, and carry 
him off to jail, drum and all. Sergeant Dickson, w^as, 
however, by no means disposed to acquiesce in these 
intentions for his personal accommodation. So he took 
himself to his arms ; and menacing the crowd with his 
loaded musket, with which he assured them he would blow 
their brains out if they touched him, he managed to keep 
them at bay till some of the Jacobite townsfolk came to 
his rescue. They mustered strong — ^between four and five 
hundred ; and making the mob, in their turn, give way, 



THE yountt chevalier. 85 

left the sergeant to follow his trade undisturbed, and the 
result was that he picked up nearly two hundred recruits. 
This little adventure gave rise to a joke against the Man- 
chester people, whose town, it was said, had been taken 
by a sergeant, a drummer, and a girl ! 



8G PRINCE CHARLIE, 



CHAPTEE YI. 

So far, during his progress in England, things had gone 
pretty smoothly for Charles. He had met witli no 
formidable opposition. Still, his reception had not 
been such as he had expected, seeing that the north of 
England had always been reckoned peculiarly attached 
to his family and cause. Very few persons of any note 
had joined him ; and as for the common people they 
hung back, unaccountably as it appeared. On his 
march from Preston to Manchester they would turn 
out in crowds to see him and his little army pass, and 
even go so far as to give him their good wishes. But 
when arms were offered to them, that they might strike 
a blow for him whom they called their prince, they 
would not touch them, protesting that they did not 
understand fighting. With them, as with many of us 
when the time comes for action, it was words, not deeds. 
Words cost nothing ; deeds involve labour and self- 
sacrifice. 

One reason, however, why Charles was rather coolly 
received was, that the common people were sadly 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 87 

frightened of his " wild Highlanders ; " just as, some 
centuries before, their ancestors had been of the " wild 
Welshmen." They had formed the most ridiculous 
notions of their fellow-subjects from the far north, and 
it was no easy matter to beat these out of their heads. 
A story had been spread about of the Highlanders 
having fierce dogs trained to fight in their ranks, and it 
was asserted that these creatures turned the day in their 
favour at Preston Pans. Further, it was affirmed that 
the masters of these terrible beasts were not altogether 
human in form, being furnished with frightful claws 
in the place of hands ; while some of the trembling 
English went so far in their belief of the perfectly 
savage character of their tartan-wearing invaders as to 
imagine that they ate children ! One of the chiefs, 
Cameron of Lochiel, he who had so humanely treated 
the first prisoners taken among the Highland fastnesses, 
entering his quarters in the evening, was met by the 
woman of the house, who, throwing herself on her knees 
before him, entreated him with tears to take her life, 
but spare that of her little ones. He asked her what in 
the world she meant. Was the woman mad? And 
then out came the truth from the weeping mother — 
that every one said that the Highlanders usually lived 
upon children ! He assured her that neither he nor his 
friends would hurt either her or any body else. She 
was hardly persuaded to believe him ; but when at last 



88 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

she was satisfied that he spoke truly, she opened the 
door of a cupboard, where she had concealed her little 
ones, saying, " Come out, children ; the gentleman will 
not eat you ! " Nor was this a solitary case. In the 
neigbourhood of Carlisle the children had been sent 
away, to save them from being gobbled up by the High- 
landers. What an image of a Scot from the northern 
hills, must these poor people have conjured up — a 
clawed, child-eating monster ! No wonder that they 
were astounded when they saw the shaggy-looking, 
half-dressed Highlanders, even though there was a mis- 
take about the claws, contentedly eating oatmeal stir- 
about, instead of ordering the fattest child to the spit, 
and pulling off their bonnets to say grace before the 
simple food, " as if they had been Christians." 

Charles, however, was not a man to be daunted by 
half-hearted friends. His hopes were high, and, not- 
withstanding some little disappointment at our English 
want of zeal on his behalf, those hopes were far from 
being groundless. Nay, they were, in fact, much more 
reasonable than he, poor man, ever knew, as we shall 
presently see. 

The adventurous sergeant, who had taken possession 
of Manchester, was next day followed by the whole 
army. First, betimes in the morning, came a small 
party of horsemen, who fixed upon the house of a Mr. 
Dickenson, in Market Street, for the accommodation 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. SO 

of their master — a building which, being afterwards 
converted into an inn, was, from this circumstance of 
the Prince having lodged there, known as the Palace. 
Charles himself arrived in the afternoon, with bagpipes 
playing, and his Highland guard about him. He wore 
light-coloured tartan — most probably the royal Stuart, 
which is gay and bright in its appearance, the ground 
being white, with chequers of red, purple, black, and 
green — a blue military sash, a light-coloured wig — an 
article without which, in those days, no gentleman was 
considered fully dressed — and Highland bonnet with 
white cockade. 

" Business first, and pleasure afterwards : " that is the 
right way of going to work. So the towns-people were 
at once ordered to pay all public dues to the Prince's 
secretary, Mr. Murray ; and in the evening there were 
great rejoicings, with illuminations, bonfires, and merry 
peals from the church bells. Some of these rejoicings 
were sincere, others not so. At the beautiful old 
collegiate church, now the cathedral of Manchester, one 
clergyman fearlessly preached a sort of thanksgiving 
sermon for the safe arrival of the Prince ; for which, of 
course, he lost his place at the earliest opportunity. 
Others, it is said — but the thing sounds too ridiculous to 
be true — fearful of injuring themselves with the reigning 
powers, and yet not indisposed to stand well with the 
Prince, who might, after all, be one day their sovereign, 



90 PEINCE CHAKLIE, 

would not see him when they had an audience, but 
" hallooed " out what they had to say, through a silk 
curtain, on one side of which sat their royal visitor, on 
the other stood their " noble selves." It may be true : 
when people are frightened they often do very absurd 
things. 

The recruits obtained by the redoubtable Dickson, 
together with some others, were now formed into a 
corps, called the Manchester regiment. They were 
dressed in blue uniforms, with plaid sashes and white 
cockades, and were placed under the command of 
Francis Townley, a Lancashire gentleman of good family. 
Among the officers under Colonel Townley were the 
three sons of Dr. Deacon, a physician in the town. All 
these were full of life and zeal for the cause in which 
they had engaged. But alas for the changes in this 
world! It was not long, before, according to the 
brutal custom of that day, the ghastly, severed heads of 
most of these were affixed to various public buildings 
in London and the country. Those of Thomas Deacon, 
and another officer named Syddal, were sent to their 
native town to be displayed on the Exchange. They 
were seen by the aged father of Deacon ; who, sinking 
under the weight of years and infirmities, reverently 
bowed himself before this sad relic of his child, thanking 
God for having given him a son willing to die for his 
prince. As long as this dreadful spectacle of the 



• THE YOUNa CHEVALIEE. 91 

mutilated remains of their fellow-townsmen was pre- 
sented to the eyes of the Manchester people, it was the 
custom of the Jacobites reverently to salute them when 
passing. 

Charles's situation seemed now rather critical. The 
whole nation had been roused into alarm by hiy 
rapid progress, and troops were being gathered together 
in great numbers and all directions, in order to stop the 
Prince, if they could. Marshal Wade was creeping 
on his rear ; the Duke of Cumberland, a young man of 
about the same age as Charles, and already distinguished 
as a commander, was ahead of him ; while nobody knew 
how large a force was being collected on Finchley Common, 
a few miles from London ; some said thirty thousand. 
Of this, an army of itself, it was said the King talked 
of taking the command in person ; but as it was also 
said that he had his yacht in readiness to sail off home 
again to Hanover if things went against him in the north, 
one does not know whether the Finchley report might 
not be mere bluster. Both could not well be true. 
Heading his troops, and skulking off to his beloved 
Herenhausen, are two such very different things. But 
what a panic the country was in ! There was not only 
all this marching and counter-marching of the regular 
troops, but there were Hodge and Clodpole, Tom, Dick, 
and Harry, leaving their ploughtails and billhooks, and 
other farming gear, to don helmets and uniforms, much 



92 PRINCE CHAKLIE, 

the worse for wear, and then hurrying to jom the militia 
of their respective counties. 

But Charles's cry was still " Forwards ! " spite of 
regulars, and militia, and broken-down bridges, and 
other hinderances thrown in his way. One thing in 
his favour, and that of the little army so wonderfully 
striding along, as though both Scotland and England 
were its own, was, that he and his officers had the wit 
to keep their plans to themselves. Nobody, even in 
their own ranks, knew more than an hour beforehand 
in which direction they were going to march ; and it 
was impossible for the Eoyalists to be on the look out 
for him in every place at once. It is, of course, exceed- 
ingly interesting in war time for us to read in news 
papers all about what our troops are going to do to the 
enemy ; how they are going to smash them here, and 
actually swallow them up there; march north to-day, 
and south to-morrow ; and a thousand other things that 
give us a complete peep into our own camp. But the 
mischief of it is that if we know %ll' these entertaining 
things, the enemy will know them ' too. War is like a 
game of chess. If your opponent knows your moves 
before you make them, you will have small chance of 
checkmating him. Charles's good sense made him 
alive to this, and he acted accordingly. 

The insurgent army left Manchester on the 1st of 
December. One portion of it, with Charles at its head,. 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 93 

marched towards Stockport in Cheshire, fording the 
Mersey, wliose bridges had been broken down for their 
accommodation, up to their waists in water — a terrible 
cold bath at that particularly bitter season. As the 
Prince came dripping out of the stream he was received 
by a small group of his Cheshire friends, who were 
stationed there to greet him. Among them was a 
decrepit old lady, so very old, that as a child she had 
been held in her mother's arms to witness the landing 
of Charles II. at Dover at the time of the Restoration. 
That was in 1660 ; and, as Prince Charles made his 
attempt in 1745, she must have been near ninety 
years old. The loyalty of this lady and her family to 
the Stuarts had been of the kind of which we have 
already spoken, — 

" True as the dial to the sun, 
Although it be not shone upon." 

They had served them, suffered for them, been neglected 
by them, but still lov^d and served on. From the 
time that James 11. had been driven from the kingdoms 
that he so unworthily governed, this same lady had every 
year sent abroad for his use, and that of his family, one- 
half of her income. No one in that little court knew from 
whence it came ; but there it was regularly, year by 
year, during all that long time. And now, when her 
prince was actually in England, seeking w^hat she con- 



94 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

sidered " his own again," her plates, her jewellery, 
everything of value that she had, had been sold, that 
she might present the proceeds to his very self. Her 
poor aged eyes could scarcely discern the features she 
would have so loved to look upon ; but she knew it was 
he, her own royal Stuart, and it was enough. Grasping 
his hand, she raised it reverentially to her trembling 
lips, murmuring, in her excess of joy, '' Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ! " It is added 
that the disappointment of her long-cherished hopes, by 
the fatal retreat from Derby a few days afterwards, 
extinguished what little life was left in this model of 
loyal duty and affection. 

Those Stuarts had a wonderful power of attaching 
their people to them. They surely, with all their faults, 
could not have been quite so bad as some of us think 
them. We may say so without blame now that the 
last of them is dead and gone. 

The second division of the army marched to the 
rendezvous, Macclesfield, in Cheshire, by way of 
Cheadle, crossing the river at that place. The bridge 
of course was'^gone ; but they felled a number of trees, 
and tumbling them into the bed of the river, managed 
to scramble over it upon them. The two divisions joined 
at Macclesfield, whence it was determined to proceed to 
Derby, on their way to London ; for, that being the 
seat of government, was, of course, what they were 



THE YOUNG CIIEVALIEE. 95 

aiming at. No use to think of conquering a country 
without gaining possession of its capital. In accordance 
with the secrecy with which all their movements 'had 
been conducted, a feint was practised to make the 
Royalists think they were going to march somewhere 
else ; and in pursuit of this, the insurgents, as usual, 
drove the dragoons before them. those dragoons! 
If we find them running away any more we shall be 
thoroughly ashamed of them. No wonder the Jacobites 
made such fun of them. 

Plodding along horrible roads, but still animated 
by the unconquerable spirit of their young prince, the 
army entered Derby on the 4th of the month, streaming 
in in companies during the whole of the day, so as to 
give the bewildered inhabitants an idea of there being 
twice as many of them as there really were. One 
of the first things done here was to hunt up the mayor 
and aldermen, that King James might be proclaimed 
with due state. But alas ! those cunning gentlemen, 
having no love for King James, had sent their official 
vestments out of the town ; and as mayors and corpora- 
tions without robes are worse than useless, James, 
" King of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France," had 
to be proclaimed as was never monarch before — by the 
bell-man ! 

Next day was spent in consultation, and preparing 
to fight the Duke, who was reported not far ofi*. The 



96 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

Highlanders were full of zeal and fire, and thronged 
the cutlers' shops from morning to night, quarrelling 
with each other as to which ' should get his sword sharp- 
ened first. 

They need not have troubled themselves. There 
was not going to be any fighting ; for, though the Prince 
was as eager for battle as any of his Highlanders, there 
were others to be consulted besides himself; and, in 
a sort of council of war which he held with his officers, 
every one of them opposed his bold proposal to march 
straight on to London, and beard King George, like 
the lion, in his own den. The Prince was exceedingly 
unwilling to give way to these views of his officers. 
Nay, in his agony, he declared that, sooner than retreat, 
he would wish himself twenty feet under ground. It was 
of no use. They reminded him how coolly they had 
been received in England so far. They had passed 
through that part of it considered most favourable 
to their cause, and not one, either of its nobles or its 
influential country gentlemen, had joined them. Even 
the populace had held aloof. And it was further urged 
that if they went forward, as he would have them, 
even if they demolished the Duke, that formidable force 
on Einchley Common wou'd inevitably make mince- 
meat of such a handful as they were. Now they were 
in a position to make an honourable retreat ; and this 
they gave him to understand they would do, whether 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 97 

he liked it or not. Then the news they had received 
from Scotland concurred in pointing out this as the 
most judicious step that could be taken in their circum- 
stances, and one best calculated to further his design 
of recovering his father's dominions. In Scotland Lord 
John Drummond had raised three thousand men for the 
Prince, and when these wore joined by the important 
succours expected from France, the whole united force 
would then be able to make a fresh attempt, and with 
much better chance of success. As it was, what could 
four or five thousand of them do against so many "? It 
was madness to dream of it. 

The officers who thus plied the unfortunate prince 
meant well. They thought they were giving him the most 
prudent advice in the world ; but they ruined their mas- 
ter. Had they but advanced from Derby, and made their 
swift way to London, there is every reason for believing 
that they would have effected their purpose, and overturned 
the government. For in truth their rapid march to the 
very centre of England, though taken with so much indif- 
ference by its northern inhabitants, had thrown the Lon- 
don folks into such a panic as promised ill for anything in 
the shape of resistance, had the blue bonnets only shown 
themselves to the terrified citizens. People snatched up 
their valuables, and .made off into the country with them. 
Shops were closed, business was at an end, the theatres 
were almost empty. What is called " a " upon the 



98 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

bank " took place ; that is, people who had bank-notes, 
hurried off to the bank, requiring immediate payment of 
them in money, which, it is^iaid, was dealt out to them 
in sixpences, in order to make what little money there was 
hold out the longer ; for counting out even twenty pounds 
in such small coin would take some time. The reason 
why they were in such haste to cash their notes, as it is 
called, was, that they feared Charles would take all the 
money himself if he did upset the government ; so they 
determined to be beforehand with him The King himself 
was as frightened as anybody else, having, as was named 
before, made preparations for rather a lengthened stay at 
that Herenhausen he was so fond of, in case his son, the 
Duke, should be beaten in the anticipated battle near 
Derby. It is true there had been much talk in town 
about preparations to meet the rebels, and crush them if 
they ventured within sight of the metropolis. Companies 
of volunteers were to be raised, and horse and foot to be 
summoned from all parts to defend it. But there was 
more talk than work in all this. The volunteers were too 
much like their brethren at Edinburgh ; and as for those 
fierce fellows on Finchley Common, it was generally 
believed they would have melted away, and been no more 
heard of had the Duke been defeated. Such was the 
state of things in London that Black Friday, as it was 
afterwards called. But of all this Charles was ignorant — 
ignorant also that his younger brother, Henry Bendect, 



\ . 









y 



:^ 




THE EETEEA.T FEOM DEKBT. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 99 

was menacing the southern coast with a French army, and 
that English and Welsh gentlemen of consideration were 
on the point not only of declaring in his favour, but of 
tendering their service to him in what way soever he 
might think fit to desire it. These movements in his 
favour were then actually taking place, but he knew not of 
them ; else, as before, when he spurred on his reluctant 
Highlanders to enter England, by vowing he would go 
without them, he would now, in the same way, have forced 
his officers to follow his bold leadership. On this occa- 
sion, as on many others, boldness would have been safety. 
Timidity is often destruction. So it was to prove now. 

Overpowered by his council — even the brave Murray 
was against him — orders were given for a retreat ; and, 
full of grief and indignation, the Prince turned his face 
again toward Scotland. No longer, as before, did he 
march on foot, light-hearted, in front of, or mingling with, 
his plaided followers, but sullenly hanging behind, appar- 
ently anxious to avoid them, and then spurring hastily on 
to his post in the van. The retreat from Derby took place 
in the dusk of early morning, before surrounding objects 
were discernible ; and the Highlanders, ignorant of the 
decision of their leaders, imagined they were being led 
out to meet the Duke. They desired nothing better, and 
trudged on merrily enough. Presently, as grey gleams 
of light began to struggle through the darkness, one way- 
side mark after another seemed strangely familiar to 



100 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

them. Surely the road was one they had traversed 
before, and yet they were strangers in this England 
which they had come to win. At length the truth burst 
upon them. The road was too surely one that they had 
travelled ; this and that wayside mark was but too famil- 
iar, for they were actually retracing the steps that had led 
them so gallantly into the very heart of the usurper's domin- 
ions, and were now in full retreat. The rage and disappoint- 
ment that took possession of them when the dull, broad 
daylight unmistakably told them their disgrace, broke out 
in hot Highland fashion. And the men who had behaved 
with such singular moderation on their advance, paying for 
such supplies as they required, and receiving little gifts 
with thankfulness, now could not be restrained from the 
too common license of soldiery in an enemy's country. 
Had they sustained a defeat, they could not have been 
more disheartened, though they still might have been 
demoralised. But if they were changed by their ill for- 
tune, so were those among whose homes they had to 
pass. Success, and the want of it, are the fine tests of 
frieiylliness. If they had failed, during their advance, 
to receive the substantial help of men and arms from 
their English friends, still the common people had not 
treated them unkindly, as, elated with their quick 
capture of Carlisle, they had tramped on cheerily 
through Cumberland, Lancashire, and Cheshire, with 
London glittering right ahead of them. Now, retreat- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 



101 



ing and disgraced, those excellent country folk had 
more than half a mind to pay them off for the fright 
they had given them ; and the Scots fiercely resented 
their attacks. At one little place the inhabitants, seeing 
the Highlanders were really going away, thought it safe 
to send a few shots after them ; and they revenged 
themselves by setting the village in a blaze. Manches- 
ter, where they had been so well received, and where 
even the ladies had gone flaunting about in the Prince's 
colours, changed its mind on Charles's change of for- 
tune. His vanguard was mobbed on his re-entering it ; 
and though his troops, forcing their passage through 
the town, dispersed the assailants right and left, they 
united again and fell upon his rear. It was bitter 
work! though Charles punished his fast and loose 
Manchester friends by imposing a fine of five thousand 
pounds upon them— a sum less easily raised there in 
those days than fifty times its amount would be now; 
for since that time they have learned how to turn cotton 
pods into gold. Acts of violence were committed on 
both sides : the Highlanders took to theft and other 
outrages. Kilted as they were, and possessing neither 
saddles nor bridles, they stole horses, and rode off on 
their bare backs, content to guide them with a hay- 
band. In return their stragglers were unmercifully 
shot ; even their sick, who were necessarily left behind, 
were inhumanly treated, which was a great disgrace to 



102 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

US English. For sick and helpless people, even if they 
were ten times our enemies, ought to receive the succour 
that they need. There is one great Father of us all, 
and He hath told us that it is the " merciful who shall 
obtain mercy." These merciless country folks did not 
think of that. One man even took a deliberate shot at 
Charles himself. That was murder, for it was not done 
in battle, but in cold blood on the march. The assassin 
eluded the search made for him ; and the Jacobite 
officers said it did not much matter, as, had he been 
caught, he would not have been punished according to 
his deserts. The Prince was known to be so forbearing 
that it almost invited the people to dp such things. 

At Lancaster, which was reached on the 14th of 
December, a halt took place, to allow those of the insur- 
gents who had straggled behind to come up with the 
main body. Meanwhile Perth, an active fellow, who 
thought nothing of tiring three horses in a day, rode 
forward with a troop of hussars to see how the land lay. 
He stopped for a short time at Kendal to bait ; and on 
leaving the town, just as his last ranks had got to the 
bridge, some country people who were about set upon 
them. One of the troopers was shot from a window, 
and two of them were bundled away as prisoners by 
these bold rustics, who were not ill pleased to vary the 
ordinary business of market-day by capturing a rebel or 
two. Finding themselves beset in the rear, the leading 



1 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 108 

files wheeled round, and, forming with as broad a 
front as the narrow bridge permitted, fired off their 
pistols, by which two of their assailants were killed — 
a punishment that procured their being allowed to pro- 
ceed without further molestation. 

When the main body arrived they were disposed to 
avenge the ill-treatment of their comrades by levying 
a heavy fine upon the town. The magistrates pleaded 
that, being market-day, when all sorts of people came in 
from the country round about, it was impossbile for 
them to ascertain who it was that had attacked thep 
hussars, and therefore it would be too bad to make the 
whole town suflTer for it. If they could have found the 
particular bumpkins who had done it, no doubt they 
would have given them up with pleasure, in order to 
spare their own purses. The insurgent leaders were con- 
siderate enough to admit their plea, and at Lochiel's 
request, an abatement was made of the sum that had 
been demanded. 



104: PKINCE CHARLIE, 



CHAPTER YII. 

The retreat, which was conducted with coolness and 
military order, was undisturbed, with small exceptions, 
*such as those named, till the 18th ; for though the 
Duke was in pursuit, his cavalry and heavy baggage 
could not get on through broken roads and adverse 
weather as the light-footed Highlanders did. By that 
day the Prince, together with the larger portion of his 
army, were in temporary quarters at Penrith ; the 
rear guard, under Lord George Murray, having been 
compelled, by the breaking down of some baggage- 
wagons, to halt for the night at Shap, in Westmoreland. 
Some of their powder, not having the means of carry- 
ing it away, they pitched into the river, to prevent 
its falling into the hands of the enemy. Early next 
morning they were on their march to rejoin the main 
body, and very soon the Royalist light horsemen were 
seen popping up hither and hither, and then disappearing 
again, taking care to keep themselves out of harm's way. 
Then, as the Highlanders drew near the foot of a hill 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 105 

which they had to cross, cavalry hi inarching (n*der were 
visible for a moment on its crest ; while, at the same 
time, so prodigious a drumming and trumpeting was 
heard as led to the belief of the whole of the Duke's 
army being at hand. This was a very clever trick, 
but it was only a trick, and did not answer its purpose ; 
for the Highlanders, charging up hill as fast as their 
legs could carry them, got there in time to find only a 
small body of three hundred horse, who had then 
nothing to do but to run for it, which they did pretty 
briskly. 

But though this was a mere stratagem, the Scots 
were not far wrong in supposing that the Duke was 
close at their heels. Presently their march was again 
interrupted by the breaking down of an ammunition 
wagon; and one of the officers, who had not felt quite 
at ease since the little up-hill adventure, set off to a farm- 
house at hand to try to get some sort of cart. He 
took with him a small party, of whom Dickson, the 
hero of the Manchester affair, was one. A farm- wagon 
was obtained, and little time lost in transferring it from 
its old duty of carrying hay and other farm produce 
to its new one of transporting grim gunpowder and 
ball ; but, as they were returning, Dickson's quick eye 
discerned something like a black line on the top of a 
distant hill, and he instantly cried out that the Duke 
was there after all. His captain poohpoohed him. It 
5* 



106 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

was only a hedgerow that he saw, and as for its moving, 
that was all fancy. Two more miles of that dreary march 
northwards, and then they found that it was the Duke 
with a vengeance. In a moment he was upon the Mac- 
donalds, who were in the rear of the column (that is the 
post of honour in a retreat), but who were fortunately 
screened from a decisive cavalry charge by the nature 
of the ground, which was inclosed by hedges and ditches 
— vulgar impediments no doubt, but capital defences 
from the cavalry, who, in the confined space in which 
alone they could act, were soon driven back by the 
Highlanders. These, having beaten off the enemy 
for a time, wheeled rapidly round, and ran forward till 
they again joined their artillery. A second charge was 
then withstood as before. Thus running and fighting, 
the game was kept up for the distance of a mile, till, 
having joined the remainder of the division, it was 
determined to make a stand against the Royalists at a 
spot between the village of Clifton and Lord Lonsdale's 
seat at Lowther. 

Lord George drew up his men so as to give them as 
much advantage from the nature of the ground as 
possible in case of attack. A bridge, a park wall, 
and some quickset hedges form no contemptible de- 
fences to an able military commander. The insurgents 
were skilfully posted so as to avail themselves of these, 
and then awaited the advance of the enemy, who, when 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 107 

they arrived, were no less acute in turning the peculiar- 
ities of the ground to their own account. 

It was sunset when the advancing files of the Duke's 
force came in sight, and they continued coming up till 
it was quite dusk, forming in two lines on Clifton 
Moor. It was well the Highlanders were ready for 
them; for, by occasional gleams of moonlight that 
streamed from between the dark clouds of that December 
night, Lord George soon saw a body of dismounted 
dragoons stealing along behind the stone fences and 
thorn bushes, where they had been drawn up to take 
him by surprise. Shouting out the Highland war-cry, 
" Claymore ! " he dashed at them at the head of his 
brave clans, who, as the well-known cry rang through the 
air, heedless of the volley with which they were received, 
first coolly with their dirks cut away the thorns that pro- 
tected the enemy, and then sprang in among them. The 
Highland broadsword rang, and even broke upon the 
steel caps of the cavalry, but still did fearful slaughter 
among them. They were literally mowed down by 
platoons, yet closed up their ranks as fast as death 
opened them. At leghth the fierceness of the attack 
forced them to give way, and the hot Highlanders were 
with difficulty restrained from pursuing them further 
than would have been safe. For the enemy, having 
rallied, had again formed at some distance from the 
scene of the first defeat; and the Highlanders said it 



108 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

was a shame to see them drawn up there, in sight, with- 
out their being allowed to have at them once more. 
The loss sustained by the Scots was small ; that of the 
Royalists considerable, compared with their numbers. 
But amid the darkness, buff belts and laced hats afforded 
better marks than did plaids and bonnets. Scarlet 
coats and cross belts, with their glittering ornaments, 
look very smart on parade ; but they have helped many 
a poor fellow to the death, from which a duller uniform 
might have saved him. We are now mending these 
matters by degrees. 

Lord George shared the disappointment of his plaided 
followers in not being allowed to beat the enemy more 
thoroughly ; but the Prince's orders against it were 
peremptory ; and enough had been done to prevent the 
Duke's at that time again annoying their retreat. In the 
course of the day one of the Duke's servants had been taken 
prisoner ; but the Prince, with the courtesy of a gentle- 
man, sent the man back to his master. From him it 
was learned that, had not Dickson's keen eyes made out 
the difference between a hedgerow, and a line of sol- 
diers, the party first attacked would inevitably have been 
cut off from the main body. 

Having thus cleared their way, the Scots pursued 
their route unmolested to Carlisle, where they arrived 
early the next morning. The night was spent there. 
The next day was the Prince's birthday; and being 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 109 

once more where they were masters — fojr their little 
garrison had held the town and castle for them while 
they marched into England — some suitable notice was 
taken of the day by his officers. It would be but a 
gloomy birthday after all. The army, beingj drawn 
up in battalions on the moor, remained under arms till 
noon. There was some thought of fighting the Duke 
before his artillery arrived ; but as it appeared that 
both foot and artillery were coming up post haste, it 
was decided to draw off, instead of waiting to meet them. 
The Scots accordingly pursued their march, with colours 
flying and pipes screeching, doubtless their most defiant 
measures. We are not told what strains led off the 
march ; but our own private opinion is, that at least 
some of those stout clans stepped out to the tune of, 
" O wha daur meddle wi' me '? " 

"While thus proudly marching out of their first Eng- 
lish capture, a gentleman made his Avay through the 
crowd of Highlanders, up to the Prince himself, and 
begged him to be good enough to stop that dreadful 
groaning and whining, in which their hearts were delight- 
ing as the finest of all earthly music : urging as a reason, 
that they were just about to pass the house of a lady who 
was ill. Charles, out of consideration for the invalid's 
English ears, instantly complied with the request, the 
column striding on, accompanied only by the music of its 
firm, manly tread. On reaching the house he dismounted. 



110 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

went in, and finding that the lady had a very young baby, 
begged to see it. It was brought to him ; when, taking 
his cockade out of his own bonnet, he pleasantly fastened 
it on the breast of the little creature. It was a small 
matter, but a very kindly thing for all that. 

Though not disposed to make Carlisle a standing- 
point against the Duke, there was no idea of quietly 
yielding it up to him ; so a garrison, consisting of the 
Manchester regiment, commanded by Colonel Townley, 
and some Scots under Mr. Hamilton, was left behind to 
keep it for the Prince. 

Before following Charles's route, we may advert to 
the fate of this city and its unfortunate defenders, which 
was speedily accomplished. The Duke, coming up as 
quickly as the ice, mud, and snow through which his 
troops had to plunge would let him, at once laid siege to 
it, making his attacks at four points at once, under certain 
of his officers ; he himself riding about here and there, 
with balls whistling round his head, to see that everything 
was rightly conducted. Colonel Townley made the best 
defence he could of so shaky an old place. His few guns 
were mounted on the walls, houses that would have inter- 
fered with his fire were cleared away, and chevaux de 
frise fixed across the road at the various approaches to 
the city, to stop the advance of cavalry. A cheval de 
frise is a great beam of timber stuck full of spikes on 
every side, and is an awkward customer enough for either 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. Ill 

horse or foot to deal with. The name means a Friesland 
horse. 

Findrng such vigorous preparations for his reception, 
the Duke at once sent off a messenger to White-haven to 
bring up his artillery. It consisted of ten eighteen-ponnd- 
ers ; that is, guns carrying balls of eighteen pounds 
weight ; and it was no easy matter to get them along the 
wretched roads of that district and season. Four of them 
were drawn, each by ten horses, belonging to Sir James 
Lowther, and these got on briskly enough ; for the bar- 
onet's horse-flesh had some mettle in it. The others were 
dragged by wretched cattle, hastily taken from ploughs 
and carts, sixteen or eighteen to a gun, and yet from time 
to time sticking fast in the mud. The country people 
about Carlisle, besides contributing their horses, would 
fain have offered their personal help to the Duke in his 
attempt to reduce the city and castle ; but as, owing to 
the game laws, which forbade it, they had no fire-arms 
among them, he did not think it worth while (much 
obliged to them !) to encumber himself with their clubs 
and staves. A few of them were, however, graciously 
permitted to make themselves useful by cutting fascines 
for the batteries. 

The guns being safely landed, and batteries thrown up 
on which to mount them, fire was opened on Carlisle ; 
and the Royalists pounded away at it with such hearty 
good-will as in a day or two compelled the garrison to 



112 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

hang out the white flag, as their predecessors had done 
before them, and ask terms of surrender. As it was at 
Preston in 1715, so it was now. No terms were to be 
made W'ith rebels, beyond this, that they should not be 
put to the sword, but reserved for the King's pleasure. 
That phrase, " the King's pleasure," must have made the 
very flesh creep of such of the Jacobites as remembered 
what it meant thirty years before — heading, hanging, 
chopping in pieces, and sending those human fragments up 
and down the country to regale the eye of friend and foe. 
But there was no help for it. Whether " royal pleasure " 
in 1715 and in 1745 might, or might not, be two different 
things, they were obliged to trust themselves to it. The 
place was given up, and the Duke at once took posses- 
sion, sleeping, it is said, in the very bed that the Prince 
had occupied. The garrison were confined in the cathe- 
dral, under a guard, till they could be safely disposed of. 
They, poor wretches, earnestly recommended themselves 
to the King's mercy, and in due time had their heads 
stuck up at Temple Bar, Manchester Exchange, and other 
places. 

But we must return to the Prince. After a stiff 
march in bad weather and worse roads, his army, at two 
o'clock in the afternoon, was brought to a halt by the 
little river Esk, which flows between Scotland and Eng- 
land. This usually shallow stream had, by the heavy 
rains of the preceding days, been converted into a swift 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIEK. 113 

current four feet deep. Delay, however, was only likely 
to make it worse, as it was evident those black clouds 
that hung over the retreating Scots had by no means dis- 
charged the whole of their contents. Wet jackets were 
still there in store for them. Not that they cared for wet 
jackets ; a thorough wetting, to a genuine Highlander, 
would only be like water on a duck's back. But it might 
become too deep for them to ford (bridge there was 
none) ; and with that in front, and the Duke close behind 
— no, it would not do to wait. So it was determined to 
make the passage at once, in the best way they could. 
Accordingly, the cavalry were drawn up in the stream ; 
one portion of them about twenty-five yards above that 
part of the ford where the infantry were to cross, and in such 
a manner as to break the force of the swollen current ; an- 
other portion below it, so as to catch any who might be drift- 
ed away by the force of the waters. Between these two squad- 
rons the foot passed over, arm in arm, ten or twelve linked 
in a row, so that one might help to hold up another. Num- 
bers of them splashed into the water in this way ; and as 
only their heads were visible bobbing about above the 
stream, the space between the two sea walls of cavalry 
looked, we are told, as though it were set with paving 
stones. Charles and some of his well-mounted friends 
rode through, a little lower down. .While in mid-stream, 
one or two poor fellows, who had been washed from the 
grip of their companions, were hurried along by the cur- 



IM PRINCE CHARLIE, 

rent close to the Prince. He instantly darted forward^ 
seized one drowning wretch by the hair, and, shouting out 
in Gaelic for help, held him fast till both were rescued by 
their comrades. Those warm Highland hearts would not 
beat the less lovingly for him for this spirited, manly act. 
All finally got safe over, except two or three women, who 
were unfortunately lost in the swift w^aters. Large fires 
were lighted to dry the troops as they came dripping 
ashore on the Scottish side of the river. And, forgetting 
the shame and vexation of their retreat, wdth pipes play- 
ing a merry " spring," they fell a-dancing for joy of being 
at home again. 

After this passage of the Esk, the army was formed 
in two divisions, and marched onwards, two thousand of 
them to Ecclefechan, where they halted for the night, go- 
ing forward next day to Moffat ; and the other party, 
numbering about a thousand, with whom was the Prince, 
taking the road to Dumfries, by w^ay of Annan. The 
cavalry, under Lord Elcho, made at once for Dumfries, 
where they arrived just in time to snuff out the candles 
which had been used to illuminate the town in honour of 
their own defeat ; for that was the report that had reached 
the good people of Dumfries. They had their illumi- 
nation ; and they had to pay for it too, as rather a heavy 
fine was imposed upon them by the insurgents. It was 
so heavy, indeed, that the money could not be raised all 
at once ; so that the provost, together with another magis- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER, 115 

trate, had to inarch off with the troops, when thej left 
next day, to remain in their custody till the remainder 
should be forthcoming. This gentleman's zeal for gov- 
ernment had rendered him very odious to the insurgents, 
who, in return, threatened to burn down his house for 
him. His family fled in fright at this announcement, one 
little girl being picked up, to be out of harm's way, by a 
kindly Highland gentleman of Charles's army. The in- 
nocent little creature, too young to be alarmed by her 
situation, with all the curiosity of childhood, begged her 
protector to show her the " Pretender " — so the Royal- 
ists called the Stuarts, father and son — a request that was 
at once granted, provided, as the officer pleasantly told 
her, she would not call him by that name any more, but 
give him his proper title. The night that Charles spent 
at Dumfries was passed in the house of a gentleman who, 
like many others, wished to keep well with both parties 
to the struggle. He could not refuse hospitality to the 
Prince at the head of his guards — that might have been 
dangerous on the spot. To appear a willing agent in his 
entertainment might have got him into trouble with gov- 
ernment afterwards. His way of evading the difficulty 
was ingenious and perfectly novel : he made himself so 
dreadfully tipsy, that the only thing that could be done 
with him was to thrust him out of the way — no matter 
where, so that he was kept out of sight of his guest. 

Charles left Dumfries rather hastily, owing to a false 



116 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

report of the Duke's being after him. The truth was that, 
after the capture of Carlisle, the Duke had been recalled 
to London, the south coast being deemed in danger of an 
invasion from the French. The care of the North was 
deputed to Wade and General Hawley. Wade, who had 
already been distinguished as a " slow coach," was left in 
his old quarters at Newcastle ; Hawley, to whose char- 
acter we shall have occasion to refer before long, taking 
the command in Scotland. Marching by way of Drum- 
lanrig and Hamilton, the army reached Glasgow on the 
20th. The inhabitants of this town did not love Charles 
— indeed, one of them went the length of shooting at him 
as he passed along ; but luckily the pistol only flashed in 
the pan, and so saved its unworthy owner from becoming a 
murderer. Their zeal for King George's government had 
led them to raise a regiment for its support ; and so, like 
the Dumfries people, they had to pay for their disloyalty 
to the Stuart. Broadcloth, tartans, shoes, bonnets, sheets, 
stockings, to the amount of ten thousand pounds, were 
demanded from them for the purpose of re-fitting the 
Prince's army, whose rapid march into England and back 
again, in less than two months, had left them in a very 
ragged and wretched condition. So wretched, as to oc- 
casion some complaint, that as they travelled on, weary and 
footsore, they took the very shoes off'people whom they met ; 
while remonstrances addressed to the oflicers, by those who 
were thus unshod with so little ceremony, only elicited the 



117 

reply, that if the men wanted shoon (shoes), why, they 
must have them. 

But though the gentlemen of Glasgow abominated the 
Stuarts, and all belonging to them, it was very different 
with the ladies : they fell in love with the Prince so 
heartily, that, spite of their fathers and brothers and other 
masculine relations, who did their best to keep them at 
home, the sort of drawing-room that he held twice a day 
in the Trongate, was thronged with his fair admirers ; and 
Charles was polite enough to acknowledge their attention 
by dressing and brushing himself up much more elabor- 
ately than he had ever done before. 

Eight days were passed here in much-needed rest, and 
newly equipping the now greatly diminished insurgent 
forces ; for they had sadly melted away in Charles's flying 
and disastrous expedition. There were, however, stout 
hearts left still ; and after holding a review on the green, 
where " drums were beating, colours flying, and bagpipes 
playing," as gaily as though nothing had gone amiss, the 
little army and its undaunted chief left Glasgow. One of 
their two columns, making as though Edinburgh was its 
destination, threw the citizens into a sad fright again; 
perhaps the greater that their military defenders were 
those same precious dragoons, whose feats in running 
away we are tired of chronicling. This movement was, 
however, only a ruse ; the threatening column, after rest- 
ing for the night at Kilsythe, turned aside and joined the 



118 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

other column at Bannockburn, which is about four miles 
from Stirling. Charles himself spent the night at the 
house of a Mr. Campbell, near Kilsythe, where, as was his 
custom, he caused an intimation to be made that he 
should pay his own expenses. But, alas ! next morning 
he thought differently about it ; and the dismayed stew- 
ard was informed that when his master accounted to gov- 
ernment (meaning King James's) for the rents of his estate, 
the cost of entertaining King James's son should be 
allowed him. On arriving near Stirling a junction was 
effected with the force under Lord John Drummond. 
Lord John's new recruits included Lord Lewis Gordon, 
brother of the Duke, at the head of some hundreds of the 
"gay Gordons," rustling in their green tartans; the 
Master of Lovat, with the same number of Frasers, dis- 
tinguished by their badges of yew ; the Earl of Cromarty, 
with his clan, the Mackenzies ; and a body of Irish and 
French troops. Fraser, or the Master of Lovat, as he 
was called, was the eldest son of Lord Lovat, a man inflv 
mous for his crimes. The old Lord was, in reality, as 
much of a Jacobite as his son ; but not having the courage 
to risk life and estate in his Prince's cause, as so many 
others had done, he adopted the expedient of sending out 
his clan, the Frasers, under his son, the Master ; pretend- 
ing that he himself did not like it, but that he could not 
control his headstrong son. To carry his deception 
further, he at the same time wrote whining letters to gov- 




♦'COLONEL AHKE" AND HEP. HUSBAND. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 119 

ernment, complaining of his son's wilfulness, for which he 
hoped he might not be held responsible, as he was not 
the only father afflicted with an undutiful child. The old 
wretch's duplicity did not avail him ; and he eventually 
lost his head, along with better men than he, on Tower 
Hill. The Macintoshes and Farquharsons also swelled this 
most acceptable contingent. A portion of these latter were 
under rather extraordinary leadership ; the wife of the 
chief of Macintosh having herself raised them, and placed 
herself at their head, while her husband held a commis- 
sion in the government militia. A story is told that in 
some subsequent skirmish Macintosh, being taken pris- 
oner, was ordered, pleasantly, to be given into the custody 
of his wife, the Prince observing that he could not be in 
better keeping. The discomfited captain was forthwith 
brought into the presence of " Colonel Anne," who kept 
up the joke by greeting him (according to the fashion of 
that day) with " Your servant, captain ; " to which he, 
not to be outdone, demurely replied, " Your servant, 
colonel." What a laugh they must have had afterwards ! 
Encouraged by this accession, it was at once deter- 
mined to lay siege to Stirling. The town was not in 
condition to hold out long ; but the castle was well forti- 
fied, under a good officer. General Blakeney. It, how 
ever, kept the pass to the Highlands, so that the further 
designs of the insurgents made it necessary for them to 
take it if possible. 



120 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

The various divisions of the Prince's army were so 
posted as to invest Stirling on every side save the north, 
where the enemy had himself saved them the trouble of 
a blockade, by breaking down the bridge. They were 
distributed thus : — Upwards of a thousand men, under 
Lord John Drummond, were stationed at Falkirk ; Lord 
Elcho and his cavalry at Linlithgow, eight miles off; the 
remaining infantry were divided among the villages of St. 
Dennis and St. Ninian's (within artillery range of the cas- 
tle), and Bannockburn, two miles distant, where Charles 
took up his quarters. A small force, if judiciously posted, 
will command a considerable tract of country. Here were 
only eight or nine thousand men. 

All being ready, the town was duly summoned to sur- 
render, and as duly refused to do so. Trenches were 
accordingly opened before it on the 6th of January. The 
sight of them was quite enough. Charles was immedi- 
ately sought out at Bamiockburn, and an offer to give up 
the town to him being made, was at once accepted. The 
castle was not included in this capitulation ; so that, easy 
as had been their conquest of the town, its old grim walls 
were still left for the insurgents to knock their heads 
against. The Prince proposed terms of surrender to 
General Blakeney ; but his answer was, that " His Royal 
Highness would assuredly have a very bad opinion of him, 
were he capable of giving up the castle in so cowardly a 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 121 

As the old general would not yield, the next thing was 
to try to make him, as the town without the castle was 
worth nothing. It was rather a difficult matter, as, from 
the nature of the ground about the castle, which stood 
very high, it was almost impossible for a besieging force 
to bring their fire to bear upon it ; while, on the other 
hand, the besiegers themselves would be commanded by 
its guns. There was, however, one spot, a burying- 
ground, that would afford them a level ; and of this, Mr. 
Grant, an engineer in the Prince's service, proposed to 
take advantage, by erecting their batteries upon it. It 
was a good, feasible plan ; but the townspeople objected 
so vehemently to it, as the return fire from the castle 
would have knocked their houses about their ears, that 
the Prince, always prompt to lean to the side of mercy, 
whatever became of his own interest, immediately aban- 
doned it. In this difficulty he consulted a French artil- 
lery officer, Monsieur Mirabelle — an ignorant, conceited 
fellow, whom the Highlanders used, for fun, to call Mr. 
Admirable — as to the mode of attack he would recom- 
mend. Mr. Admirable, of course, saw no difficulties in the 
matter. Doubtless he would have opened trenches against 
the moon, had he supposed it would be agreeable to his 
master to fire away at it. As it was, he did the next 
best, or rather worst, thing for him. He opened his 
trenches upon a spot, where digging fifteen inches brought 
them to the solid rock; so that the earth- works to be 
6 



122 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

thrown up for the protection of the ditch, had to be con- 
structed of bags crammed with wool and soil, brought in 
sacks from a distance. This insufficiency of defence cost 
the besiegers many lives, sometimes as many as five-and- 
twenty in one day. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 123 



CHAPTEE YIII. 

While the siege of Stirling Castle (thanks to Mr. Admira- 
ble) was going on in this dismal fashion, there was, how- 
ever, something to be done elsewhere. General Hawley, 
as has been said, had arrived in Scotland to take the com 
mand against the Prince and his friends. The General 
was brave, but had not much ability as a commander. 
He was cruel to an extent that made him hated by his 
own men ; and he brought to the business in hand a su- 
preme contempt for the " Highland rabble," as he was 
pleased to term the Prince's army. The spirit in which he 
came out against the insurgents may be imagined from 
the circumstance of his having gibbets prepared before- 
hand, on which to hang up the Scottish rebels, — when he 
caught them ! 

This amiable individual was now understood to be in 
full march towards the Prince's army, at the head of a 
considerable force of infantry and horse. He particularly 
trusted in his cavalry, having the impression that they 
were capable of sweeping off from the face of the earth, 



124: PEINCE CHARLIE, 

any number of bare-legged Scots. Of course he knew, a» 
well as everybody else, what had happened to Cope's dra- 
goons ; but then Cope was in fault. That was his way 
of explaining it. Only let him come near them, and they 
might look out for squalls ! Well, he came, marched 
from Edinburgh after the insurgents, and speedily formed 
his camp in the immediate vicinity of Falkirk. O, what 
an array was there to swallow up the " Highland rabble ! " 
There were Hamilton and Gardiner's dragoons ; but we 
might as well cross those out, because we know of what 
sort of stuff they were made. Even Hawley himself, 
when they came to meet him near Edinburgh, flourishing 
their swords by way of w^elcome, sarcastically bade them 
put up their weapons, and use them better the next time 
they were drawn in earnest. Then there were Cobham's 
horse, Squire Thornton's Yorkshire Blues, and several 
foot regiments, bearing, as it was at that time the custom, 
the names of their commanders — Cholmondeley's, Price's, 
Munro's, Barrel's, Howard's, Pulteney's, Fleming's ; the 
whole being wound up by the Glasgow militia and ten 
field-pieces. Field-pieces are what their name implies — 
cannon used only in the field, being too small for batter- 
ing purposes. It takes a much heavier ball to knock 
down stone walls than to bowl down lines or columns of 
men. General Huske, another rough old campaigner, 
was second in command. 

Hawley's plan was to raise the siege of Stirling, and 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 125 

give battle to the Highlanders ; which in his mind was 
only another name for destroying the whole lot of them* 
Tt was with this intent that he moved his troops from 
Edinburgh ; and, when Charles became aware of it, he 
determined to anticipate him. At nightfall, on the 16th 
of January, he issued orders ibr a review of his whole 
army at break of day the next morning, on a plain to the 
east of Bannockburn. The men and officers had no idea 
of its being anything else ; but, when the usual evolutions 
of a review were at an end, the order was given to form 
in column, and march off*, by a circuitous route, in the 
direction of Falkirk, where Hawley was encamped. Off" 
they moved accordingly, across fields and through by- 
roads, to the little village of Dunipace, far away from 
the high road that led from Stirling to Falkirk. After 
passing through this village — which may be three and a 
half miles from Falkirk — about two o'clock in the after- 
noon, and fording the Carron water, the march was con- 
tinued in the same way, till the troops, to their surprise, 
suddenly found themselves within sight of the English 
army, which was spread out on the low ground beneath 
them, at a distance of little more than half a mile. 

The surprise was mutual, for the English did not 
know that the insurgents had left their ground at Ban- 
nockburn. Rumours, indeed, of the movement had 
reached them, but they were not credited. A countryman 
gave them the first alarm, and was threatened with hang- 



126 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

ing for his pains. Presently, a little before one o'clock, 
when the soldiers were just going to get their dinner, 
some uneasiness began to be felt by the officers ; and two 
of them climbing a tree, in order to sweep the country 
with a telescope, perceived that there was really some 
truth in the report of the enemy's being on the move ; 
though Charles's plans had been laid with such skill, as 
considerably to embarrass them as to the point whence an 
attack was to be apprehended. One portion of his force 
was sent in one direction, another elsewhere. The troops 
now seen were most probably Charles's cavalry, which had 
been detached, and sent on the high road to Falkirk, in 
order to mask, for a while, his real design of advancing on 
the foe from another quarter. The sight was alarming ; 
and, to make ill worse, there was no General Hawley to 
be found. He, good man, in his easy contempt for the 
" Highland rabble," was enjoying himself at Lady Kil- 
marnock's ; who, as her husband was in the Prince's army, 
was supposed to have had her own reasons for making 
herself and Callender House particularly agreeable to the 
old general. General Huske certainly was in the camp ; 
but he had no orders to act, and military law is so strict 
that few care to exceed their commission. A messenger 
was therefore sent off to Hawley to report what had been 
seen ; and brought back for reply that the troops might 
put on their accoutrements, but there was no necessity 
for their arming : for he thought it simply impossible 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 127 

that mere Highlanders should dare to attack him^ with all 
that cavalry at his back. So the men went quietly on 
with their dinner. When, however, the sudden appari- 
tion of the Scots army upon the high grounds above Fal- 
kirk, only some half-mile off, presented itself, there was 
not a moment to lose. Trumpets sounded, drums beat 
" to arms ; " there was equipping and mounting in hot 
haste ; and the General, hurrying from his unfortunate 
breakfast with Lady Kilmarnock, galloped up hatless and 
breathless, in his zeal to repair his fault. 

His troops had already, by the officers in the field, 
been drawn up m two lines to receive the enemy ; but, 
seeing the Highlanders bending their quick steps towards 
the high ground on Falkirk Moor, he ordered his three 
regiments of cavalry to advance, and take possession of 
it before them, as it was important to deprive them of 
this advantage. The infantry were to support them with 
fixed bayonets, while the artillery lumbered behind in the 
rear : where it got " bogged " so speedily as to be of no 
use to any one. Setting spurs to their steeds, up hill 
galloped the dragoons, with a storm of wind and rain in 
their faces, that not only nearly blinded them with the 
smoke of their own firelocks, as well as those of the 
enemy, but so drenched their powder as to make many of 
their pieces useless, and utterly unable to reply to the 
scathing volley with which the Highlanders, who had out- 
run them, and already gained the hill-top, saluted their 



128 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

advance. Out-manoeuvred, there was nothing for them 
but to give it up, and take ground lower down. 

Both armies were now drawn up in two lines, and the 
battle began in earnest. The English cavalry advanced to 
the charge at a quick trot ; the right wing of the Scots, 
to which they were opposed, reserving their fire till the 
enemy was fairly within musket range. Then they 
poured in a volley, aimed so well, as to empty near eighty 
saddles, the commanding officer of the brigade being among 
the number who were brought to the gromid. Our old 
runaway dragoon friends immediately turned and fled, 
crying out, as they dashed in among their own infantry, 
that they should all be killed. The remainder of the 
horse had some better spirits among them ; and, closing 
up their ranks, they charged the Highlanders gallantly, 
riding them down, and trampling them under foot. But 
their agile opponents, overthrown as they were, were not 
baffled. Writhing and wriggling like serpents as they 
lay upon the ground, they dirked the horses, dragged the 
riders down by ' their long coats, or anything else they 
could catch at, and then pistoled or dirked them — for 
there was no room for the swing of the broadsword — till 
the English were fairly overpowered and forced back. 
No sooner had they turned, than up sprang the prostrate 
Scots, and charging on foot as rapidly as the others fled on 
horseback, drove them pell-mell upon their supporting 
infantry. These, in as utter disorder, from having their 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 129 

own horse thus flung upon them, as though they had re- 
ceived a charge of hostile cavalry, gave way, and the 
whole right wing of the English army fled from the field. 
Strangely enough, while the Highlanders had thus 
demolished the English right, their own left wing had re- 
ceived a severe repulse. They charged, and drove back 
the infantry to which they were opposed ; but, when in 
full pursuit, received so terrible a flanking fire from three 
regiments, which were hidden from them by the inequality 
of the ground, that, fearful of falling into an ambuscade, 
their advance was suddenly checked. This spread an 
alarm through their rear ranks, and threw them, in their 
turn, into such disorder as saved that division of the Eng- 
lish forces ; which, though defeated, retired in good order, 
drums beating, and colours flying. They were thus en- 
abled to protect their own rear ; turning, and treating the 
enemy to occasional discharges of musketry, till they 
reached Falkirk. The regiment that gave way was rather 
a celebrated one, the Scots Koyals, who had behaved so 
gallantly, but a few months before, at Fontenoy, that 
Lord John Drummond, who knew them, could not believe 
they were retreating in good earnest : he thought they 
were only pretending, in order to lead their enemies into 
a trap. The fire from the three regiments in the hollow 
ground confirmed this idea : hence, instead of following 
up their first advantage, the Highland left fell back, so 
confused and disordered as to lead many of them to be- 
6* 



130 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

lieve that they had lost the battle, when in reality they 
had gained it. Indeed, some of the officers wandered 
about for several hours before they found out their mis- 
take. 

Night — a wet, dreary one it was — was now coming 
on ; and, as fires were seen gleaming in the English camp, 
the Scots .supposed that the enemy was making himself 
comfortable there. No such thing ; the rout of the Eng- 
lish army was far more complete than the insurgents 
could have dreamed. Hawley and his dragoons were 
flying to Linlithgow, having first ordered the tents to be 
burnt ; the English army was thoroughly beaten, horse 
and foot ; and all had been done in the space of ten min- 
utes. The Highlanders could scarcely believe their own 
eyes and ears. But so it was, in very truth ; and, after 
five hours' exposure to the pelting storm, Charles retired 
to Falkirk, and took up his quarters for the night in the 
town. 

The loss of the Royalists on this disastrous day was 
very great ; their list of killed, wounded, and prisoners 
was a long one. Among the most notable of their slain 
was the brave Sir Robert Munro of Foulis, who, as col- 
onel of the celebrated Highland regiment, called, from its 
sombre uniform, the Black Watch, had distinguished him- 
self at Fontenoy. He was so very fat and unwieldy that, 
on that occasion, he had to be dragged out of the trenches 
by the arms and legs ; and when the whole regiment lay 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 131 

down on the ground to receive the French fire, the stal- 
wart colonel alone remained standing exposed to it, 
knowing that, if he once laid himself down, it would be 
long before he could raise his huge bulk again. Fortu- 
nately, spite of his presenting so fair a mark, he escaped 
being hit. Now, however, there w^as no Black Watch at 
his back ; and deserted by his regiment, though most of 
them were of his own clan, he was set upon by half a dozen 
Camerons at once. Two of them he killed with his half- 
pike, a weapon then carried by officers ; but a shot from 
a seventh man bringing him to the ground, that terrible 
broadsword finished the business. His brother Duncan, 
w^ho was a surgeon, coming, though lame and unarmed, to 
give him such help as he required, was shot, and cut down 
in the same manner ; and so they perished together. To- 
gether they were laid in the grave by the enemy ; the 
Macdonalds and other Highland chiefs attending to do 
honour to the remains of their brother chief, who had 
fallen so gallantly, though in arms against them. A third 
brother, Henry Munro, also fell in this insurrection. A 
Highlander, maddened by the cruelty with which his 
family had been treated by the detestable military execu- 
tioners of the English commander-in-chief— his dwelling 
burned down, his cattle driven away, and his poor starv- 
ing children turned out amid the snow — shot Henry 
Munro, believing him to be the officer under whose orders 
these crimes had been committed. That brave man, 



132 PEINCE CHAKLIE, 

however, was innocent : he lost his life for the misdoings 
of others. 

The Highland army was less unfortunate than the 
opposing one. One of its officers, a Major Macdonald, 
was made prisoner in rather a curious manner. Having 
unhorsed an English officer, he himself mounted the 
animal, which was a valuable one. Unluckily for him, 
the horse was military ; and when the regiment, com- 
manded by its master, turned and fled, no earthly power 
could prevent its falling into their ranks, and galloping 
away with them, with its new owner upon its back. It 
was in vain that he tried to pass himself off for an Argyle- 
shire Highlander (the Argyle men sided with govern- 
ment) ; Huske's quick eye detected the white cockade, 
however dingy it might have been made to look ; and, 
before the poor major had time to throw himself off, 
he was seized, carried away prisoner, and ultimately 
lost his life upon the scaffold. 

This victory threw a large supply of military stores 
into Charles's hands ; for the retreat had been so 
hurried that the enemy could carry little away with 
them. Tents — for the attempt to fire them had not 
been successful — guns, firelocks, powder, with various 
baggage, were no unacceptable addition to his own rather 
meagre equipment ; w^hile on the field, where the slain 
lay thickly grouped together, the plundering parties 
exercised their vile trade briskly, spite of the deluge of 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 133 

rain and the wind that swept in almost resistless gusts 
across that wild heath. Nothing came amiss ; even those 
poor dead bodies were remorselessly stripped, till in the 
distance, as one said who saw it, they looked " like a 
flock of white sheep resting upon the hill-side." But 
theirs was a sad, sad rest! And that, "flock" will 
never rise till the great day, when victors and van- 
quished, the slayers and the slain, shall alike stand before 
One who shall judge the whole w^orld in righteousness. 

The extremely stormy weather kept the victorious 
army tolerably quiet the next day. It must have been 
bad when even Highlanders could not face it, but 
left the captured artillery on the field to take care of 
itself. At seven o'clock in the evening, however, one of 
the officers was desired to take a sergeant and twenty 
men, and mount guard for the night over the cannon. 
A pleasant piece of work that ! Accordingly, off" set the 
little party, with a lantern to light them. The wind 
soon blew this out; and then, losing their w^ay, with 
wind and rain blowing in their teeth, they stumbled hither 
and thither among the slain, the whiteness of whose 
poor unclothed bodies rendered them startlingly visible, 
even amid the darkness of that stormy winter's night. 
The very horse ridden by the officer shook with terror 
as, planting his feet blindly in the dark, they occasionally 
came in contact with the dead, stepping upon or climbing 
over them. 



134 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

Hawley halted but one night in Linlithgow. He 
and a portion of his troops found shelter in the old 
palace of that city ; and, being nearly dead with wet 
and cold, the poor fellows lighted such huge fires as made 
the people of the place afraid they would set the build- 
ing itself on fire. A lady who lived in the palace en- 
treated the General to interpose his authority against 
such hazardous doings ; and when he, in return, only 
ridiculed her fears, keenly replied, " Very well, General, 
I can run away from fire as fast as you can ; " and with 
that she posted off at once for Edinburgh. Her retreat 
was by no means premature, as within a couple of hours 
the ancient pile was in a blaze, and speedily burned into 
utter ruin. Hawdey next day continued his flight to Edin- 
burgh, where he used his gibbets to hang some of his 
soldiers for their cowardice ; somewhat to the disgust of 
the Edinburgh people, who, not being accustomed to such 
sights, were not a little shocked at seeing four of these 
unfortunate wretches strung up at once. His defeat is 
said to have afforded great consolation to Sir John Cope, 
who now felt the disgrace removed from his own shoulders 
to those of his successor ; as, indeed, he is reported to 
have betted largely that it would be, whoever that 
successor might be. So when the news reached London, 
throwing everybody else into a fit of the dismals. Sir 
John cleared up his countenance and pocketed his 
money. He must, however, have felt a little discon 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 135 

certed that same day, when a nobleman, in a fit of 
absence, called him " General Hawley : " a mistake that 
set the bystanders a-laughing. 

A few weeks before this battle, the insurgents had 
taken an English sloop of war — the Hazard — which 
annoyed them terribly by cruising about Montrose, 
where Drummond, with his men and stores, had been 
landed, and popping at them with her guns whenever 
opportunity offered. One or two of the French trans- 
ports, indeed, had fallen into the hands of the English, 
whose vessels were hovering about the coast on pur- 
pose to intercept them. Captain Hill, of the Hazard, 
also made a boat-descent upon them, carrying off rather 
more of their war stores than the insurgents could well 
spare. Altogether, it was time to put a stop to him and 
his proceedings. That very night, accordingly, a party 
of Highlanders marched quietly into the town ; and when, 
next day, the long boat, with twenty men, was sent 
ashore to seek for more arms, no sooner had her keel 
grated on the shore than, rushing forward, they seized it, 
killing one man, and making prisoners of the rest. 
Eowing off in her themselves, accompanied by some 
fishing boats they had got together, they reached the 
Hazard under cover of so thick a fog, that they were 
not seen till close upon her. The suddenness of the 
surprise prevented much resistance. The vessel was 



136 PEINCE CHAKLIE, 

their own ; and clambering on board, they compelled 
the master to steer them into the harbour. 

The vessel thus cleverly seized was now re-equipped, 
named the Prince Charles^ and sent to France with the 
intelligence of the battle of Falkirk. Their prisoners, 
who were rather numerous, were stowed away in the 
castle of Doune, and various other places. A little 
group of them cleverly managed to escape from the 
castle, by letting themselves down to the ground by 
their bed-clothes. The rope broke with the heavy 
weight of the fifth person who descended. Number 
six, not choosing to stay behind and account for the dis- 
appearance of his friends, took his chance with what was 
left. Down he went, hand under hand, and let himself 
drop when he reached the end. Poor, unlucky fellow ! 
the fall dislocated his ankle, and broke several of his ribs. 
His comrades, however, managed to drag him off with 
them, and all got away safely, spite of the rigorous 
search and pursuit after them, which were immediately 
instituted. 

The post occupied by the Prince on this day was, as 
before, with his second line, on a little rising ground that 
is still, from this circumstance, called Charlie's Hill. 

A variety of causes concurred in rendering this 
astonishing defeat of the King's troops very little 
serviceable to the Prince. It seems strange that victories 
should ever be useless; yet so they are sometimes. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 137 

and this was to be one of them. The leading officers in 
the insurgent army quarrelled among themselves ; and 
quarrels among leaders generally lead to inaction or 
futile efforts on the part of followers. They quar- 
relled because the defeat of the enemy had not been so 
complete as it might have been, and each laid the blame 
of this upon the other. Lord George found fault with 
Lord John, and Lord John was not slow to retaliate 
upon my Lord George. While, in addition to the weak- 
ening of the forces by different councils, their strength 
was physically diminished by the loss of large numbers 
of the Highlanders, who, according to their custom after 
a successful engagement, at once made off home, laden 
with the spoils of the battle of Falkirk. Further, 
Charles was unhappily bent on taking that old castle of 
Stirling, that had, so far, scowled defiance at him. He 
had, just by way of intimation that he had not abandoned 
them, left a small force before it when he turned aside 
to beat Hawley ; and he now resolved to return thither, 
to finish, as he fondly believed, the business he had 
begun. 

As we know how Mr. Admirable had set to work 
to construct his batteries, we can understand how it 
was that progress was rather slow, though the difficulties 
in the way of their completion were not so great as they 
might have been ; for Blakeney, seeing they could not 
do him any harm, did not take the trouble to interrupt 



138 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

the enemy at their toil. He thought it as harmless 
an amusement as any in which his Highland neighbours 
could be engaged, and so left them to it. On the 
return of Charles and his victorious Falkirk troops, 
another formal summons to surrender was sent to the 
castle ; and the answer returned was, that General 
Blakeney had hitherto lived as a man of honour, and 
that so he proposed dying. This was a fair challenge 
to the Scots ; and, in their zeal to accept it, one of the 
half-finished batteries was opened upon the castle. That 
was the Frenchman's doings, who shot off his three guns 
with great cheerfulness : there ought to have been six, 
but he could not wait. The three made noise enough ; 
but noise will not break down stone walls, and it was 
the greater pity on this occasion, as, from the position of 
the guns, so completely overlooked by the castle that the 
very shoe-buckles of the artillerymen were visible to the 
garrison, there was not the slightest chance of their 
shot doing any mischief. The discharge of these popguns 
had, however, one striking effect — that of drawing down 
such a storm of shot from the castle as in half an 
hour dismounted them, and drove gunners, soldiers, and 
every one who did not wish to be smashed, precipitately 
from the spot. The idea of placing their cannon pre- 
cisely where old Blakeney could, with the least possible 
trouble to himself, silence them, was certainly an original 
one. His permitting them to go on with their ridiculous 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 139 

earth-works, so long undisturbed, ought to have awakened 
suspicions as to their value. The poor Scots must have 
been sick of carrying on sieges, French fashion, under 
Mr. Admirable, when thirty minutes demolished their 
three weeks' hard labour. 

It was a mortifying thing ; but it now became evi- 
dent that this siege, on w^hich Charles had so set his 
mind, must be relinquished. Further attempts were 
hopeless ; not only on account of the ill-success attending 
those already made at such expense of time and toil, 
but that now the Prince's officers, as they had done at 
Derby, " took the bit between their teeth," and, refusing 
Charles's command, told him roundly what must be 
done, and what they intended doing. Their opinion was, 
perhaps, couched in rather more civil terms ; but he 
knew what was meant. Their decision was that the 
siege must be at once raised, and the army drawn off 
into the Highlands ; where they felt sure they could 
not only hold their own, and keep out the enemy during 
the remainder of the winter, besides making themselves 
masters of the government forts, but, by adopting this 
plan, be in condition to open the campaign with spirit in 
the spring. 

Poor Charles ! It was the Derby advice over again, 
and he had already seen w^hat came of following that. 
However, he could no more help himself now than he 
could do then ; and, as before, he was forced to yield. 



140 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

The first pang over, he submitted with composure tc 
what was thus forced upon him. The siege — a blunder 
from first to last, and only the beginning of fresh misfor- 
tunes — was at once abandoned, and preparations made for 
the new retreat ; or, to phrase it less gratingly, advance 
into the heart of the hill country. The works, such as 
they were, were demolished ; their battering train of 
thirteen cannon, which were too heavy to be carried off, 
were spiked. This is a neat little operation for disabling 
artillery ; and consists in driving a steel spike into the 
touch-hole, which renders them as utterly useless as 
though their great, gaping, round mouths had been plugged 
up. Modern science has contrived that, while these spikes 
are as inextricable as ever, they shall still fit loosely in 
the whole, so as to throw a few additional difficulties in 
the way of any enterprising engineer who may have a 
mind to drill them out — the only way of getting rid of 
them. Their ammunition was blown up, to prevent its 
falling into the hands of the enemy. This proved a dis- 
astrous affair. The church of St. Ninian's had been con- 
verted into a powder magazine ; and, on hastily discharg- 
ing a musket into it to fire the powder, the fabric blew up 
with so sudden a shock as to destroy three of the men 
who had been charged with this duty, as well as several 
of the townspeople, who were buried in the ruins, and 
dug out afterwards, we are told, by the King's troops, for 
the sake of their clothes ! The report, which was heard 



THE YOTNa CHEVALIER. 141 

to a considerable distance, gave the first intimation to the 
advancing Royalists of the retreat of the Prince's force. 

Charles left Stirling on the 31st of January, crossing 
the Forth at a ford about four miles higher up, one of the 
arches of the bridge at Stirling having been destroyed 
some time previously by General Blakeney, so as to ren- 
der it useless. But for having friends about him, the 
crossing of this ford might almost have destroyed his 
little army ; for the very evening before, up came a King's 
officer, with his troop, demurely inquiring whether there 
was any one who could point out to him the spot where 
the river was usually forded. The person to whom this 
inquiry was addressed, imagining that mischief to the 
Prince was intended, instead of acquainting the stranger 
with the ordinary crossing-place, sent him to one a little 
distance off. His suspicion saved Charles's army ; for in 
this very spot, which was not the ford, the military 
stranger deposited caltrops enough to have lamed twice 
as many men as Charles had to lead through the Forth, 
and who (thanks to the countryman who had done them 
this service) got over at the right place in safety. A cal- 
trop is a small three-clawed instrument, so constructed 
that in what direction soever it may be thrown on the 
ground, one claw will project, inflicting a severe wound 
on either man or horse who treads upon it. 

Inverness, often called the capital of the Highlands, 
was the point towards which they were now making ; 



142 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

and, Stirling fairly left behind, their first night's halt was 
at Dumblane. Thence they took their straggling and some- 
what disorderly way to Crieff, where they divided into 
two columns. One of these, under Lord George Murray, 
took the road to Perth, into which they continued stream- 
ing and passing out for nearly two days. Perth had for- 
merly been taken, and fortified by Lord John Drummond 
and his division. It was now, before they finally left it, 
hastily dismantled ; thirteen ten and twelve-pounders 
bemg spiked, and the swivel guns, taken out of the Hazard, 
pitched bodily into the river. 

With Lord George were Lord Lewis Gordon and his 
people, and others from the Lowlands, some of the French 
troops, the cavalry, seven cannon, and some chests of 
arms. Lord Lewis turned off at Dunkeld, and made his 
way northwards, through Braemar. (Brae means a hill ; 
so the name signifies " the hills of Mar.") Lord George 
and the rest marched through Pundee, direct for the 
coast at Montrose. Here they placed two of their guns 
on board a small vessel, which kept up with their pro- 
gress as they skirted the coast to Aberdeen; whence, 
some by way of Banff, some by Strathbogie, they ad- 
vanced towards Inverness, to meet the Prince. This was 
a roundabout mode of getting to their rendezvous ; but 
the provisioning of their men rendered it desirable that 
they should not all move by one track. The Prince him- 
self, with Tullibardine and about five hundred of his Athol 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 143 

men, together with other of the Highlanders, took the 
more direct road through the mountainous district of 
Blair-Athol. During this march they seized a small fort 
at Ruthven, one of those raised by the government to 
keep "Jack Highlander" in order, and carried off its gar- 
rison as prisoners of war. Here an unfortunate fellow 
was laid hold of, who had undertaken to carry intelligence 
from General Guest (he had retained Edinburgh Castle 
when the city was taken) to the Earl of Loudon, who now 
held Inverness for King George. The letter was found 
concealed in the finger of one of his gloves. He met 
with the usual fate of those who, in time of war, are 
either proved or suspected to be spies. No one shows 
any mercy to such. 

The valley of the Spey was traversed by the Prince 
and his column undisturbed, though the Grants, whose 
country it was called, were in arms for government. 
But they contented themselves with garrisoning Grant 
Castle ; and, as Charles was not disposed just now to run 
himself against any more stone walls, he passed on at 
once to Moy. This was the home of the chief of the 
Macintoshes, and about ten miles or so, from Inverness. 



144 PKINCE CHARLIE, 



CHAPTEE IX. 

Hawley's defeat at Falkirk was a sad blow to the Eng- 
lish people and government ; who, when the insurgents 
turned their backs upon them at Derby, had hoped that 
they were going to be fairly rid of the Prince and his 
Highlanders. Now what a change there was in their 
prospects ! Indeed, the whole affair «v70uld scarcely bear 
looking at, it was so very humiliating. In this short 
campaign, two of their boasting generals had been beaten, 
and that shamefully, in Scotland. While, as to how they 
had fared in England, the less that was said about that, 
was, after all, the better ; seeing they were indebted for 
their escape rather to the irresolution of the insurgents at 
Derby, than to any check which had been given them on 
English ground : and it was now evident that the danger 
was by no means at an end. Something must be done 
promptly and with greater vigour than had yet been 
shown on their side in this unhappy contest. King and 
ministers, and great people, who manage such matters for 
us (and a thankless office it is, too !), accordingly laid their 
heads together to consult about this unfortunate business. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. I45 

The result was, not only that more troops were sent to 
convince the Scottish Jacobites that they were decidedly 
in the wrong in preferring James to George, but that the 
Duke of Cumberland, who had acquired great fame in 
Flanders, went with them in order to try whether he 
could not retrieve our military honour in Scotland, where 
it had received no little damage. The Duke laid the 
blame of this Falkirk disaster on the General, and de- 
clared that he himself would beat the rebels with the very 
men who had run away under Hawley. 

The additional forces, which were despatched at once 
consisted of artillery-sixteen cannon, with their full com- 
plement of gunners, drivers, and other attendants (for it 
takes about twelve people to wait upon one gun) ; and 
three regiments of horse-Bland's, St. George's, and that 
of the Duke of Kingston. 

The Duke set out on his journey also immediately, by 
way of Newcastle and Berwick ; and travelled with what 
was then thought such speed as to present himself in 
Edinburgh within four days : for those were not railway 
times, neither were they the days of high roads smooth as 
billiard tables, such as those which our long lines of rail 
have now consigned to disuse, if not exactly to being 
grass-grown. He was accompanied by the Duke of 
Athol, younger brother of the Marquis of Tullibardine 
(the Marquis had been attainted-that is, deprived of his 
title^for his share in the rebellion of 1715) ; the Earl of 



146 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

Albemarle ; his son, Lord Bury ; Lord Cathcart, and 
some other officers. 

The Duke arrived among the frightened Edinburgh 
folks at three in the morning. Even heroes must sleep. 
The first thing he did was to go to bed — the very bed in 
which Charles himself had slept during his stay at Holy- 
rood. It must have been the best bed. A short nap 
sufficed, for he had much business on hand ; and the 
" King's business," that he had come to do, especially re- 
quired " haste." An interview with Hawley, Huske, and 
other officers followed, when plans for the coming strug- 
gle were talked over. Then came a levee ; magistrates, 
grave professors, and ordinary citizens hurrying to kiss 
his royal hand, while an hour or two later he was good 
enough to kiss their wives and daughters ; for that was 
the fashion in which, a century ago, it was reckoned 
polite for gentlemen to greet ladies. Only fancy a gen- 
tleman of that date being suddenly planted in a modern 
drawing room, and behaving himself, according to the 
best of his belief, with the most rigid politeness, after this 
manner. What a " flutter in the dovecot " would ensue 
— hoops and white muslin flickering off" in all directions 
out of the way of the " horrid man," who might perhaps, 
next thing, find himself in a police court ! Thus do things 
change. 

Edinburgh was in a delirium of joy on this occasion. 
All was shouting, ringing of bells, illuminations, and run- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 147 

ning hither and thither to get a look at the Duke's huge, 
unwieldy person, which some of the sight-seers, in the 
height of their loyal zeal, pronounced much handsomer 
than that of the tall, lithe, graceful Prince Charlie. There 
certainly was nearly twice as much of the Duke as there 
was of the Prince, and perhaps his admirers judged him 
by quantity. Descending into the courtyard of the 
palace to inspect the guns which had been placed there, he 
was received with drums beating, and loud huzzas from 
the populace, who thought that the hero, though not a 
successful one, of Fontenoy, would certainly help them 
out of the difficulties in w^hich two stupid English gener- 
als, and some rather clever Scotch ones, had, between 
them, contrived to place the northern friends of the Han- 
overian succession. The artillery w^as found in w^orking 
order, all right — not a rammer, not a sponge, not even a 
screw missing. The troops were reported equally ready 
for action ; and in rather better spirits, the Duke having 
pardoned two of the soldiers, by whose hanging Hawley 
had sought to relieve his feelings after the Falkirk affair. 
It was therefore decided that an advance upon the besieg- 
ers of Stirling Castle should take place at four o'clock 
next morning ; while at the same time, in order to de- 
ceive the enemy, a report was spread abroad that the 
Duke designed waiting in Edinburgh for fresh reinforce- 
ments — a report that the enemy knew better than to 
believe. 



148 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

The royal force, numbering about ten thousand, was 
under arms betimes next morning, and speedily set out 
on its travels, in two columns. The Argyle Highlanders, 
under Colonel Campbell, together with Cobham's dra- 
goons, led the van, commanded by General Huske. The 
artillery brought up the rear. Hamilton's and Ligonier's 
dragoons were sent forward to patrol the roads westward 
in the direction of the march, to prevent intelligence of the 
Duke's movements being carried to the enemy. No one 
was suffered to pass that way, save those who were either 
in the royal service, or could show a written permission 
from some high legal or military officer. 

Having thus sent off his men before him, the Duke 
about nine o'clock got into a fine coach, drawn by twelve 
horses — the gift of a Scottish earl — and with some little 
state took his departure from Edinburgh. At Castle 
Barnes, half a mile from the city, he mounted his horse, 
and galloped off to rejoin his troops ; putting himself at 
the head of the Scots Royals, with whom, and eight bat- 
talions of foot, he reached Linlithgow that night, taking 
up his quarters there. Brigadier Mordaunt, with six 
battalions, camped at Borrowstounness, and the horse at 
other villages in the neighbourhood. 

Next morning, as it was not known how soon they 
might come to a meeting with the insurgents, the scat- 
tered divisions were united. Before pursuing his march, 
the Duke addressed his men, telling them that he was 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 149 

aware there were many Scots among them ; and if any 
were reluctant to fight their own countrymen — possibly 
their friends and relations — as in all probability they 
were just about to do, they had his free permission to 
retire from the ranks ; nor should their doing so expose 
them to any imputation of cowardice, as though they 
were afraid of a battle. This speech was cheered as it de- 
served to be, but none appeared to take advantage of it. 
The Duke, who had a knowing military eye, was much 
pleased with the Argyle Highlanders, as they marched 
past him ; their sinewy frames were, he could perceive, 
well fitted for a tough contest, especially with their own 
people, whom they would have to engage ; and he 
admired them the more for wearing the trews instead of 
the philibeg. People had not learned in those days, as 
they have done now, to consider the kilt, with short 
chequered hose gartered below the knee, a highly pictur- 
esque costume. 

Proceeding towards Falkirk, rumours reached the 
army, of the insurgents' having already left that place, 
and being in retreat over the Forth. It was certain 
their advanced guards had retired whenever the King's 
troops came in sight ; and presently the distant explo- 
sion of that great powder magazine at Stirling, placed the 
fact beyond doubt. On entering Falkirk at ten in the 
morning — the Duke on foot with his infantry — it was 
found that the enemy had evacuated it, leaving behind 



150 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

them some of their prisoners of the late battle. The 
horse, and Argyle Highlanders, under General Mordaunt, 
were instantly sent forward to Stirling, that they might 
harass the retreating foe as much as possible ; and, on 
arriving there, found, as we know, that they had already 
abandoned the siege, and were off to the north. The 
Duke, with the remainder of his army, rested that night 
at Falkirk, as this retreat of the Prince gave them time 
to take breath. 

On taking up his quarters at Falkirk, the Duke is 
said to have inquired humourously where his cousin, the 
Prince, had lodged, as he was sure that would be the best 
house in the town. He was taken to it, and so a second 
time slept in Charles's bed. 

The following morning, February 3rd, he marched to 
Stirling, where he was joyfully welcomed both by Blake- 
ney and the garrison ; three rounds of cannon being fired, 
by way of royal salute, as he entered. Some of the 
Prince's friends were seized here, and sent off prisoners 
to Edinburgh. The broken arch of the bridge was now 
patched . up with timber, to allow of the passage of the 
King's troops over it after the fugitives. They were 
obliged to wait till this was done, because they could not 
have taken to the ford, had they desired it, for fear of 
laming themselves with their own caltrops. Two days' 
work built up the bridge, and over it they streamed. But, 
as was the case when leaving England, the pursued far 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 151 

outstripped the pursuers, who, the further they advanced 
to give chase, only found themselves the more hopelessly 
left behind. Those light-footed Highlanders, and even 
their Lowland horse, had it all their own w^ay, when it 
came to a run for it. The Eoyalists left Stirling at six 
in the morning on the 4th of February, following the 
Prince's route to Crieff, where they halted for a night. 
A party, being sent out from this place, gallantly captured 
two ladies, the Duchess Dowager of Perth and Lady 
Strathallan, who were forthwith consigned to Edinburgh 
Castle for the next ten months. We are not informed 
what amount of " killed and wounded " was the result of 
this brilliant achievement. A seizure was also made of 
the valuable stud belonging to the Duke of Perth, who 
was fond of horse-racing, and whose steeds were, of 
course, confiscated for military purposes. So far, the 
King's troops were " covered with glory," having carried 
off the ladies, and swept the Duke's stables ! 

The weather w^as now so bad — such rain, such mud, 
such snow — that on arriving at Perth, three days after 
the last of the insurgents had quitted it, the royal Duke 
did not think it prudent to follow his game any further. 
So he gave his troops a few days' rest there, sending out 
detachments under Sir Andrew Agnew and Colonel 
Leighton to secure the passes at Dunkeld and Castle 
Menzies. The place of the men thu^ sent out was filled 
up by fresh arrivals from England, by way of Edinburgh. 



152 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

Poreign troops were also brought in to aid the Eoyalists, 
who felt that their condition was becoming a very serious 
one. These consisted of about five thousand Hessians, 
under their Prince Frederic. They landed from thirty- 
six transports, convoyed by four men-of-war, in Leith 
Roads, on the evening of the 8th of February. Leith is 
the port of Edinburgh. The good people of that city 
were apparently not a little gratified by this reinforce- 
ment, whose arrival was saluted by all the vessels in the 
harbour and Roads, as well as by the castle guns. It is 
an odd custom, that of blazing away a quantity of powder 
when you either wish to do people honour, or are glad to 
see them. 

These Hessians seemed a decent, quiet set of men ; 
the only breach of discipline recorded against them, while 
quartered in the city, being that two of the privates helped 
themselves to a calf, which they proceeded to dress with- 
out paying for it. It is very much to be feared that 
those poor fellows would get the lash. They had better 
have been content without veal. Their hussars were 
a fine-looking body, mounted on long-tailed horses, chiefly 
black, and very strong, though much less in size than 
those generally used in the English cavalry service. 
They wore unusually long curved swords, in slings, such 
as are now commonly worn by horse-soldiers, instead of 
being stuck in the shoulder belt, according to the pre- 
vailing fashion of that time. 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 153 

After doing what could be done in Perth, which in- 
cluded rescuing those fourteen drowned guns from the bed 
of the river, and doing some little mischief to people who 
were favourable to the Stuart, the Duke posted off to 
Edinburgh, attended by Lord Cathcart and a few ser- 
vants, to meet his brother-in-law, the Prince of Hesse. 
One day there, was devoted to dining in public, and con- 
certing his schemes with the Prince. This done, he took 
his leave under a very royal salute, and returned to 
Perth with as much speed as he had lefl it. On the 20th 
he moved his force in four divisions to Aberdeen, taking 
very much the same route as that pursued by Lord 
George Murray — by Coupar, Dundee, and Montrose. 

His progress through this part of Scotland did not 
impress him very favourably as to the loyalty, towards 
his own family, of its population. Recruiting for the 
Prince went on almost under his very nose. He himself 
complained that he felt more completely in an enemy's 
country than when he was fighting the French in Flan- 
ders ; and it became evident that the idea which had been 
entertained of the insurrection's being entirely broken, 
was a very erroneous one. One or two instances may 
illustrate the spirit of the people. At the house of one 
nobleman, where he had passed the night, the very bed 
in which the Duke had slept was ordered to be taken 
down as soon as he was gone ; by way of expressing the 
disgust felt by the family at having been obliged to give 
7* 



154 PKINCE CHAELIE, 

him a night's lodging : while, at the same place, somebody 
or other, in the course of the night, contrived to do him 
a more effectual piece of mischief, by catting the girth of 
every horse in his troop. It is clear that, according to 
popular notions in that district, though the Duke might 
be the " right man," he was in anything but the " right 
place." Such small contempts and real injuries were 
something to set against the extravagant, fulsome flattery 
with which, in those days, it was the custom to regale 
royal personages. 

The Duke made Aberdeen his head quarters for a few 
weeks, sending out parties from time to time into the 
adjacent country on special services. These services 
were various. Burning Episcopal places of worship 
was one of them, the members of that communion being 
generally attached to the Stuarts, as those of the 
Presbyterian one — the established religion — were to the 
house of Hanover ; and, of course, burning their churches 
was the best way of making disaffected Episcopalians love 
their new Hanoverian governors. With a praiseworthy 
eye to business, the soldiers, previous to making a bon- 
fire of two of these buildings, stripped off the timber to 
heat their own ovens. But while thus maltreating the 
adverse church, the Duke, at the same time, managed to 
get rather into the bad graces of his Presbyterian 
clerical friends ; into none of whose chapels in that 
part of the country did he ever put his foot. The 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 155 

assigned cause of this extraordinary slight to the estab- 
lished ministry, is rather an amusing one. It is said 
that the Duke requested Mr. Bisset, one of the ministers 
of Aberdeen, to allow some gentleman, whom his Royal 
Highness wished to hear preach, the occupancy of his 
pulpit. Good Mr. Bisset, dreadfully offended at his 
Grace's preferring any one to himself, (it was such bad 
taste,) hotly returned for answer, that "though he 
neither preached before kings nor kings' sons, he would 
yield up his pulpit to no living soul ! " And so he 
had his revenge (such as it was) on the Duke ; and the 
Duke had his (such as it was) by not going near any of 
them. 

Another little special service was to destroy a 
magazine, or ammunition store, of the insurgents, in an 
old castle, situated in a wild, mountainous district fifty 
miles off, near the source of the Don, whence Aberdeen 
takes its name ; for the word Aber signifies " the mouth 
of a river," and the town of what is now called Old 
Aberdeen, is built near the spot where the Don falls into 
the sea. It was originally called Aberc^o;^, which renders 
the origin of its name more apparent. Three hundred 
of Conway's foot, under the command of Major Morris, 
and one hundred of Lord Mark Ker's dragoons, were 
sent off on this errand, over wretched mountain roads, 
deep with the snow of that inclement season. They 
returned at the end of seven days, during which not 



156 PKINCE CHAELIE, 

one of them had had his clothes off, having thoroughly 
executed their commission. They had seized the fort, 
thrown away into the snow and heather between three 
and four hundred firelocks, and twelve thousand musket 
balls, and staved sixty-four barrels of fine Spanish gun- 
powder (then reckoned the best), which were afterwards 
rolled into the river. That magazine of mischief was 
thoroughly done for. And this special service was rather a 
more soldierly piece of work than either burning churches, 
even though they did belong to Episcopalians, or carry- 
ing off elderly ladies to Edinburgh castle. 

Of course, Duke William, as he had taken the matter 
in hand, was bound to harass and crush the insurgents 
as much as possible ; and in such circumstances many hard 
cases were sure to occur, much wrong and injustice to be 
committed. In the course of these raids from Aberdeen, 
we find that two of his officers w^ere deprived of their com- 
missions, for abuse of the powers intrusted to them. One 
of them suffered this disgraceful penalty for robbing a 
gentleman's house : another for taking a bribe of six 
guineas to spare that of a merchant. 

It is right that even these two instances of his inter- 
fering to prevent undue oppression of the Jacobite popu- 
lation of this district should be recorded. And for this 
reason : that, before the Duke left Scotland, the cruelties 
which he not only sanctioned, but committed himself, 
yea, and urged upon others, were so excessive as to 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 15T 

cause his name to be execrated, not only by the suffering 
Scots of that period, but even by the calm historians of 
the present one, who deliberately apply to him now the 
disgraceful name which he acquired then — that of the 
Butcher ! Assuredly, of not one single good deed of his 
can he afford to lose the reputation. The Prince of 
Hesse, on the contrary, is spoken of as conducting him- 
self courteously alike to Jacobite and Hanoverian. 

Surprises, however, were not peculiar alone to the 
Duke's tactics : two could play at that game, as he found 
to his cost. The small town of Keith, in Strathbogie, 
was one post occupied by his troops, while making Aber- 
deen their head quarters ; and Mr. Glasgow, an officer 
in the Prince's army, volunteered to carry it with only 
two hundred men. The Prince doubted whether he 
could do this, did not much like the scheme, but finally 
yielded to his importunities. Glasgow accordingly got 
his men together, marched off in the evening, got quietly 
across the river Spey, and reached Keith at one o'clock 
in the morning, without any one there having an idea of 
the plot that had been laid for them. Advancing noise- 
lessly to the guard-house, they were hailed by the sentinel, 
" Who goes there 1 " "A friend," w^as the prompt reply. 
But alas for such friends ! A blow with the dirk, that 
killed the sentinel on the spot, instantaneously followed 
the treacherous answer. A rush from the Highlanders 
speedily overpowered the guard; they were disarmed 



158 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

and secured ; and then, spreading themselves through the 
town, this little band of the insurgents soon made them- 
selves masters of it. Some of the Argyle men, who had 
turned the church into a fortress for the occasion, blazed 
away gallantly at the attacking party, but were at last, 
together with the few horsemen, who were doing their 
best outside, obliged to give way. And then the insur- 
gents had it all their own way ; carrying off, from the 
houses where the soldiers had been billeted, upwards of 
eighty prisoners, whom Mr. Glasgow had the satisfaction 
of presenting next day to the Prince. . This little success- 
ful enterprise had the efl'ect of harassing the enemy con- 
siderably ; the feeling of insecurity which it created com- 
pelling them to take such additional precautions against 
surprise, as added seriously to the fatigue of the already 
over-taxed soldiery. Such work in such weather, filled 
the Duke's hospitals. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER 169 



CHAPTEK X. 

We left Charles at Moy Castle. Lord Loudon kept him 
out of Inverness, having contrived to fortify it in some 
simple fashion, and garrison it with near two thousand 
men — Monroes, Grants, Macleods, Macdonalds of Skye, 
and others. The mere troop that Charles had with him — 
three hundred, or thereabout — could, of course, have no 
chance of dislodging the Earl ; so the Prince was con- 
tent to be quiet till the arrival of Lord George Murray, 
who went the roundabout coast road to Inverness, should 
bring him reinforcements. Meanwhile, it occurred to my 
Lord Loudon that if he could manage to surprise Charles, 
kidnap him in a sort, it would be an exceedingly clever 
thing on his part, and a very convenient way of putting 
an end to the contest. The idea was too good to be lost 
sight of, and he forthwith set himself to the carrying of it 
out. 

In the afternoon of February 6th there was an unusual 
commotion among the garrison of Inverness. No one 
knew what was the meaning of it ; but the town, inside 
and out, was soon surrounded by a chain of guards and 



160 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

sentinels, to whom a strict charge "was issued not to suffei 
any one to pass out, whatever might be his rank or the 
urgency of his plea. So far so good. Then, having or- 
dered fifteen hundred of his men to be ready to march at 
any moment that the word of command might be given, 
the next thing was to place himself at their head, and lead 
them off on the road to Moy ; the time of their setting 
out being so calculated as to bring them to the castle 
about eleven o'clock at night. The Inverness people 
wondered what my lord was after ; but, as there was no 
one to relieve their curiosity, they were obliged to be 
content without its gratification. On tramped the High- 
landers, and soon their last file disappeared from the gaze 
of the sight-seers of Inverness. 

The scheme was well-planned, and promised to be suc- 
cessful ; but its defeat — for it was defeated, after all — was 
much more ingeniously accomplished. Some officers, who 
were to join the Earl on his secret expedition, whiled 
away the time, till the hour fixed for their departure, by 
sitting over their wine in an inn kept by a Mrs. Baily, 
where they were waited upon by her daughter, a girl of 
about fourteen years old. They had no more wit than to 
talk over their fine project here, taking no notice of the 
girl, who was coming in and out, but going on with what 
they had to say, as though she were not present. At last, 
something or other that was said excited her attention, 
she listened eagerly, and was not long in finding out upon 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 161 

what errand they were bent. Not a moment did she 
lose. Slipping unperceived out of the house, she man- 
aged to elude the sentinels; and, once outside the town, 
ran, as if for her life, straight off to Moy, to apprise the 
Prince of his danger, taking off her shoes and stockings 
(Scotch fashion), that she might run the faster. Her poor 
bare feet fairly distanced Lord Loudon and his men ; the 
castle was reached ; and rushing in, breathless and near 
fainting, she gasped out the news she had brought. 

The Prince, who was asleep, was instantly waked, 
and came down to see what was the matter. Down, too, 
came the lady of Moy, half dressed ; for there was no 
time for ceremony when life, and such a life, was at stake. 
They sent the Prince away, about a mile up the bank of 
Loch Moy, where it was thought he might be safely con- 
cealed till the storm had blown over. Meanwhile, the 
blacksmith of the village, a bold fellow, finding what was 
afloat, determined to meet stratagem by stratagem, and 
see whether he could not turn the tables upon the great 
lord, with his Highlanders at his back, who had fancied 
he should catch them all napping. Taking with him a 
few companions well armed, they posted themselves on 
the road to Inverness, listening with all their ears for the 
expected enemy. Surely the girl had not fooled them all ! 
No, she was right ; for now, in the distance, was heard 
the sound of advancing footsteps — a measured tread as of 
many, and those trained to step in concert. General 



162 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

Blacksmith immediately took up his position on the road, 
adroitly placing his forces — half a dozen country fellows 
like himself — in a kind of ambuscade at each side of the 
way, and at some little distance from each other. The 
word of command was, not to fire till he gave the signal, 
and then not to give a volley, but a dropping fire, one 
after the other, so as to convey the idea of an extended 
line of troops. They waited in utter silence till the first 
ranks of the hostile Highlanders came up with them. 
Then was the time for action. Crying out, " Here come 
the villains ! — fire away, my lads ! " the smith let fly at 
them, his own shot killing Macleod's piper. Instantly, 
from both sides of the road, and as if in answer to the 
smith's call on the " Macdonalds," " Camerons," and other 
imaginary clans whom he was pleased to invoke, and 
whose war cries were imitated with perfect success, balls 
were poured into the advancing column ; which, confused 
by the suddenness of the attack and the dark night, im 
agined themselves set upon by a considerable body. Nay, 
for anything they knew, it might be the whole insurgent 
army. Turning at once, they rushed on those behind 
them, throwing them down, and trampling on them, in 
their zeal to get out of the way. These were not slow in 
communicating the alarm to their rear ; and in an amazing- 
ly brief space of time the whole fifteen hundred of them 
fled, as quickly as they could put down their feet, back to 
Inverness, where they arrived out of breath, wounded, 



THE YOIJNa CHEVALIEK. 163 

and in an extremity of terror and shame. Fifteen hun- 
dred dispersed by half a dozen ! Well done, blacksmith ! 
And poor, poor Earl ! No wonder that he deemed it ex- 
pedient to retire from Inverness the very next day. 

This extraordinary affair was afterwards known as 
the " Rout of Moy." The Master of Ross, a chief who 
accompanied the unfortunate expedition, declared that 
though, in his lengthened military career, he had been in 
perils enough, he had yet never found himself in so griev- 
ous a plight as that in which he was placed at the rout of 
Moy. 

Charles, receiving the reinforcements for which he had 
been waiting, next day followed up this ridiculous discom- 
fiture of Lord Loudon by attacking Inverness. It was, 
after a fashion, returning my lord's call. On advancing to 
the town, however, they found it was deserted by its de- 
fenders, who had gone to hide their blushes elsewhere. 
The insurgents were just in time to see the last of them 
passing over the Murray Frith, by the ferry of Kessock, 
and to hasten their flight by sending a few cannon shot 
after them. The castle was still held by two companies 
of Loudon's regiment. It was a place of considerable 
strength, known as Fort George, and had cost the govern- 
ment a large sum to keep it up as a sort of check upon the 
" wild Highlanders." Major Grant, the governor, had 
received strict orders from his recreant and departing 
chief, to stick to it. It was summoned ; and, as it de- 



164 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

clined to surrender, preparations were made for laying 
siege to it. A trench was opened, and some firing took 
place. Then ground was broken a little nearer ; but 
from this the besiegers were driven, owing to secret in- 
telligence of their designs having found its way into the 
fort, which enabled the artillery men to lay their guns so 
as to sweep the trench. An old disused kiln was next 
seized, and converted into a hasty battery, which did some 
little damage to the roof of the building. Next day the 
firing was resumed on both sides, rather to the disadvan- 
tage of the insurgents, who forthwith began to drive a 
mine towards the north bastion of the fort. This finished 
the business. The garrison, in a panic at the idea of being 
blown up — and indeed it is a very horrible thing — com- 
pelled the governor to give up the place. For this he 
was afterwards cashiered ; and it served him right, seeing 
he made a shabby arrangement for his own benefit, leav- 
ing the poor soldiers under his command, to bear all the 
brunt of the defeat, so far as hardships went. The garri- 
son, as prisoners of war, were confined in various places. 
At Nairn a few of the officers made their escape through 
the back window of an inn ; which made it rather worse 
for their less fortunate companions, who were, in conse- 
quence, more strictly guarded. Some of the Grants, who 
composed the garrison, enlisted with Charles ; and the re- 
mainder of the clan, under the influence of Roy Stuart, one 
of the Prince's officers, went quietly to their own homes. 



THE YOrxa CHEVALIEE. 165 

The taking of Fort George supplied the Prince's army 
with arms, ammunition, and provisions, all of which were 
very acceptable. A vessel, heavily laden with such 
things as the townspeople thought they could best carry 
away, was also captured by some of the Athol men, and 
from its various stores furnished a good stock of copper 
money ; a thing not to be despised, on account of the 
wants of the private soldiers : for, without small money, 
people in humble life are sadly inconvenienced. And 
even such of us as are more familiar with shillings and 
half-crowns than were these simple Highlanders, would 
miss the pennies considerably. 

The fort in his own hands, the Prince now had his 
revenge upon Lord Loudon, for the trick he had attempt- 
ed to play off against him, by blowing up his castle for 
him. 

A strange accident happened during the performance 
of this rough operation. A French officer, who was 
charged with its superintendence, unfortunately stood too 
near his work, when the train that was to be fired, explod- 
ed suddenly, blowing the poor man himself into the air. 
The force of the shock whirled him round and round 
before he came down again, with a heavy splash, into the 
river, a yard or two from its bank ; and yet, though so 
tossed and turned over, strangely enough his hat and wig 
fell close by his side ; even his watch and money still 
remained where they were — in his pockets. His dog, 



166 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

which had stood near him on a large stone just above the 
spot where the match was applied, was sent right across the 
river, there two hundred yards wide, stone and all, and 
was very little the worse for its flying journey. Let us 
hope the unfortunate Frenchman was not our old friend 
Mr. Admirable. 

Charles was by this time joined by his whole army. 
The troops under Lord George, who had travelled wearily 
by that long coast road, had been coming in by detach- 
ments during some days. On the 16th of February a 
small party of their horse, having crossed the Spey> 
arrived at Elgin, where they required billets for live 
thousand men, and stabling for five hundred horses. 
These kept pouring in that night and next day. Then 
came up a troop of Roy Stuart's regiment, with arm- 
chests and ammunition — good store brought over by two 
Spanish privateers ; and scarcely Avere the Elgin people 
rid of these, when their room was filled up by Lord Elcho 
and his cavalry. On the 18th came the main body, com- 
prising the Macintoshes, the French aid, Lord John 
Drummond's, and Lord Lewis Gordon's regiments, who 
proclaimed James VIIL at the Town Cross, in more than 
due form ; beating drums, shouting, drinking healths, and 
winding up the ceremony by flinging their glasses over 
their heads. This was a cheerful company to be enter- 
tained that night. No wonder that hay, straw, and oats 
— not to mention other provisions — were largely in 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 167 

demand. Next day, by way of Forres and Nairn, they 
continued their route to Inverness, leavino: Elsin under a 
garrison of Gordons, Farquharsons, and Lord Pitsligo's 
horse. 

There were three important government forts in this 
part of Scotland, placed, so as to command the High- 
lands in a slanting direction across the country from Fort 
George, at the entrance of the Murray Frith in the north, 
to Fort William, situated on Loch Eil, in the country of 
the Camerons, in the south. Fort Augustus stands nearly 
midway between these two. Hither, immediately after 
the taking of Fort George, Charles dispatched a small 
body — three hundred of his Irish troops — under General 
Stapleton. The town was defended by a sergeant and 
twelve men, who showed fight becomingly on the occa- 
sion. The garrison consisted of three companies of 
Guise's regiment, who fired upon the assailants, and 
inflicted some loss upon them. The artillery, however, 
coming up at this time — they had out-marched it— ena- 
bled them to lay siege to the fort in proper style ; and 
on the second day, a ball going plop into the enemy's 
powder magazine, caused such an explosion as compelled 
Major Wentworth, the commander, to surrender. The 
fort served a^' a place of confinement for the insurgents' 
prisoners, of whom they had so many as to prove a 
serious embarrasment to them, owing to the desultory 



168 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

manner in which the contest was now, of necessity, 
carried on. 

The victorious party went straight on to Fort William, 
in the attack upon which they were to be joined by 
clans from the neighbourhood — Camerons, Macdonalds 
of Keppoch, and the Stuarts of Appin. Here, however, 
they were less fortunate. The nature and the state of the 
road between Inverness and the fort, so delayed the arrival 
of the French troops and cannon ordered thence to this 
siege, that it was the 20th of March before they were 
ready to open their batteries. Tha twas too late to be of 
any use ; as an urgent call to Inverness, for all the troops 
that could be got together, a few days only before the fatal 
battle of Culloden, compelled the besiegers to retreat 
before they had made any impression on this stoutly- 
defended post. 

Inverness was now the Prince's head quarters, and he 
took up his residence there in the house of Lady Drum- 
muir, mother of the lady of Moy. After the battle of 
Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland established himself 
in the same house, and it is said, again, in the very bed 
that Charles had occupied. The old lady did not like 
it, remarking testily that she had had two " kings' bairns " 
(children) sleeping in her house, and most certainly she 
never desired to have another." 

Lord Loudon and his men had, as has been said, taken 
to their heels pretty quickly after their ridiculous discom- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER, 169 

fiture. The insurgents, however, were not disposed to 
let him off quietly, so a considerable detachment was 
sent in pursuit of him, from whom he had a narrow 
escape. They marched around by way of Bewley ; and 
Loudon in alarm, having neither boats to cross the Frith 
nor sufficient provisions for his men, pushed to Cromarty, 
hoping either to find means of transport there, or to get 
shelter under the guns of some of the English men-of-war, 
which it was thought might be cruising in the neighbour- 
hood. When they reached Cromarty, they were terribly 
disappointed, for they found neither the one nor the other ; 
while the enemy, on the brow of the hill, were coming 
down upon them. Presently, however, to their great 
relief, the Vulture sloop-of-war was seen entering between 
the two rock}'- promontories that form the entrance to 
the bay. They hailed her in every possible manner, 
shouting, throwing up their bonnets, and displaying 
signals ; but, spite of all, she calmly held on her way at 
the opposite side of the bay to that where they were in 
such peril, and finally dropped anchor there. Their 
signals, however, must have attracted some attention, 
though they had not induced the vessel to alter her 
course ; for, afler anchoring, an officer was sent across 
in the yawl (a small ship's boat), to see what was 
the matter. Scarcely knowing who or what they were, 
the boat kept at a respectful distance from shore, the 
men lying on their oars when they came within mus- 



170 PEINCE CHARLIE, 



ket range, while the purser roared out to them, through 
his speaking-trumpet, to know what was wanted. It was 
answered that they were friends ; and the perilous 
position in which the Highland detachment had placed 
them being pointed out, the men bent to their oars 
again, and, making their craft fly through the water, 
speedily informed the captain of the sloop of the state of 
affairs. He weighed anchor immediately, and, steering 
the vessel opposite the slope where the insurgents were 
posted, brought his guns to bear upon them. Several of 
the men were wounded by his fire, and some of their 
horses killed ; so, finding that they could neither get at 
Loudon, nor occupy the town while the Vnliure lay there 
to batter them, they marched back again. Loudon and 
his company were afterwards carried to the other side of 
the bay by the ship's boats. 

There was, however, no rest for Lord Loudon. He 
had escaped this pursuit, but they had not lost sight of 
him ; indeed, he proved too troublesome a neighbour for 
there being any chance of his friends at the other side of 
the water forgetting him. He had got boats now ; so 
from time to time he dashed over the Frith at the insur- 
gents, as hastily dashing back again if they attempted to 
fight' him. The insurgents, unfortunately for them, 
could not pay him back again in his own coin, as they 
at that time were in the predicament in which he had 
been placed so shortly before. They had no means of get- 



^ 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK, 171 

ting over the water. The thing was the more serious 
too, as they knew not how soon the Duke of Cumberland 
might be up with them — all sorts of rumours were 
abroad — and had he attacked them on one side, Lord 
Loudon would be sure to take the opportunity of setting 
upon them on the other, and thus placing them between 
two fires. It was high time for making a vigorous effort 
to put down my Lord Loudon. 

The Prince therefore gave orders that all the boats, 
great and small, that could be collected from the various 
fishing hamlets upon the coast, should be got together at 
the mouth of the river Findhorn. The skill and zeal of 
one of his followers brought this humble fleet to the ap 
pointed place in the course of a single night. One 
portion of the troops destined for the expedition was put 
on board it, and soon got under sail, while the remainder 
went by land round the head of the Frith. Perth com- 
manded. Under cover of a thick fog the boats crossed 
over to Dornock, where Lord Loudon was camped, and 
landed their freight unperceived. The two forces then 
joined, and, marching along the coast, fell in with a 
small party — about two hundred — of the enemy, some 
of whom fled ; while the remainder, consisting of their 
commander, four or five officers, and sixty privates, were 
made prisoners. This was a good beginning ; but 
Perth, who, though a brave fellow, was not much of a 
general, lost time dilly-dallying with this paltry 



1Y2 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

troop, instead of at once pushing forwards and pouncing 
upon Loudon, who wisely improved the delay by taking 
himself off. Perth gave chase, but it was too late. 
Loudon was off to the wilds of Sutherlandshire, and 
afterwards further still, to the Isle of Skye. 

In all civil wars there is one particularly grievous 
circumstance — that friends, even members of the same 
family, often find themselves on different sides in the 
contest, and so may actually be compelled to shed each 
other's blood. That is a dreadful chance. There were 
cases of the kind now, one of which may illustrate this 
unhappy state of things. 

Just before Lord Perth set out on his expedition 
after Loudon, one of Charles's aides-de-camp was struck 
with the altered appearance of a brother-officer, who, 
usually full of energy and spirits, now seemed sunk in 
grief. His friend inquired into the cause of this change. 
The officer, with tears, replied that he had a son, whom 
he greatly loved, serving under Loudon. Before there 
had been any thought of the Prince coming over to Scot- 
land, he had procured a commission for the lad, and had 
thought himself most fortunate in doing so ; but now 
that he himself was going out against this particular 
regiment, the thought that his son might possibly fall by 
his own father's hand, unmanned him. There was only one 
consolation arising out of his being ordered on a piece 
of service which this possibility rendered so afflicting to 



THE YOrNa CHEVALIEE. 173 

him ; and that was, that it might perhaps afford him the 
chance of saving his son's life by himself capturing him. 
Poor comfort, yet better than none. His friend sympa- 
thised with him, did what he could to cheer him, and so 
they parted. On the return of the detachment, a loud, 
impatient knocking was heard at the door of the aide-de- 
camp, who, going to open it, saw the poor melancholy 
father of the preceding day, standing there in the high- 
est possible spirits, holding a tall, handsome youth by the 
hand. " Here," he exclaimed, " is the boy about whom 
I was so miserable yesterday. I took him prisoner my- 
self; and after I had got him safe, I assure you I did not 
much trouble myself about others." 

The various military parties stationed by the Duke 
about Perthshire had not, as may be supposed from the 
few specimens that have been already given, distinguished 
themselves by mildness in the performance of their duties. 
Of course they were set there to make themselves dis- 
agreeable to the Jacobite inhabitants of the district ; and 
they did it. Tidings of their doings were from time to 
time carried to Charles's army, and the Highlanders were 
exasperated by hearing of the fate of their homes and 
families. Houses burnt, and provisions eaten up before 
the eyes of starving wives and children, who were refused 
even a share of their own, might indeed have thrown 
more temperate people than the hot-blooded Highlanders 
into paroxysms of rage. So, while the main bodies of 



174 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

the two armies lay inactive, the weather preventing theii 
getting at each other, it was determined by the insurgents 
that Lord George Murray should lead a considerable de- 
tachment into Athol, his own country, to avenge these 
wrongs. 

Many of the posts thus held by the Royalists consisted 
of the ordinary gentleman's residence of the time and 
country, half house, half castle, which a little engineering 
skill on the part of their present occupants soon converted 
into tolerably respectable fortresses. There were but 
thirty of them, large and small, scattered up and down 
the country. The most important of them were Lude, 
belonging to the chief of clan Robertson ; Blairfettie, where 
fifty troopers were stationed; Faskally, Easthaugh, be- 
longing to the M'Larens ; Kinnachan, and the inn of 
Blair. 

Having taken all possible precautions to prevent intel 
ligence of his design being carried to the enemy, Lord 
George left Inverness at dusk early in March, with six or 
seven hundred Highlanders ; not even his men knowing 
for what particular purpose they were turning out. They 
reached the borders of Athol on the 11th of March, and 
the column being halted, the men were then acquainted 
with the object of the expedition. The plan was that they 
should separate into a number of small detachments, and 
these were at the same time, about midnight, to attack 
the various posts against which they were to move ; unit- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 175 

ing again when they had finished their work, at a certain 
place called Bruar, a couple of miles from Blair. 

They broke up accordingly into as many companies 
as there were houses to be attacked, and then, as stealthily 
as so many cats, moved off, each one in the direction of the 
particular post whose destruction was confided to it. . 

The expedition was attended by complete success, 
nearly the whole of these fortified houses falling, after 
more or less resistance, into the hands of the incensed 
Highlanders, who made three hundred prisoners, without 
the loss, on their own side, of a single man. It may be 
imagined these same prisoners would not be very delicately 
handled. 

The details of the different captures were, of course, 
various. At one place the garrison was found carousing 
in an Irish sort of fashion, as a preliminary to the funeral 
of one of their friends. The whiskey had been plentiful, 
if not very good, and to a man they were seized before 
they had time to fire a shot. At another, the sentinel 
having given an alarm, the little garrison defended itself 
stoutly, but in vain — all were carried off* prisoners. At 
Blairfettie, sentinel and all were laid hold of before they 
knew what the uproar was about. The lady of the house 
had, some days before, contrived to send off* a herd-boy to 
her husband, who was with the Prince's army, to inform 
him of the pitiable plight to which the soldiers quartered 
upon her had reduced her and her children. On the night 



176 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

of this avenging expedition she was roused from sleep by 
a tap at her bedroom door ; and, on asking who was there, 
was answered by one of her servants, who had gone off 
with Blairfettie, that the laird himself was below, and she 
must come down to him immediately. Down she went, 
and in the hall there stood the whole of her oppressors, 
disarmed, and guarded by her husband's tenants and ser- 
vants, who stood over them with drawn swords. In their 
presence Blairfettie required that any of them who had 
particularly misconducted themselves should be pointed 
out to him. This would be rather an anxious moment to 
the unmanly beings, who had been rioting at such very 
free quarters in the house of that stern tartaned chief, 
whose servants (accustomed to obey his bidding, whatever 
it might be) now stood round them, with flashing blades 
unpleasantly near the prisoners' eyes. The poor lady 
then spoke out her complaint, that her unwelcome guests 
had kept all that there was to be eaten for their own use, 
leaving her and her children to starve. It was well for 
them that it was no worse, and also that the laird was a 
merciful man. He contented himself with taking the 
officers' word of honour that they would conduct them- 
selves civilly in his house, and henceforth give his wife 
and children a share of the provisions — a promise that 
was faithfully kept. Why he did not turn them out, as 
his comrades did elsewhere, we are not told. Per- 
haps he thought a worse set might come in their place. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 177 

as the insurgents were not holding that part of the 
country. 

At Easthaugh the affair turned out more tragical. 
Followed by some of his own clan, M'Laren arrived at 
his house about one in the morning. All was quiet ; and 
having managed to effect an entrance without waking the 
sleepers, they first stole to the guard-room and seized all 
the arms. The soldiers were next collected from various 
parts of the house and out-buildings, where they had been 
stowed for the night, and shut up all together in one build- 
ing, with a promise that if they made the least noise they 
should be put to death. Leaving a guard over them, 
Easthaugh, accompanied by his nephew, entered the bed- 
room of the commanding officer, and sternly bade him get 
up. The officer, in reply, grasped his sword, which lay 
by his side, when the fierce Highlander instantly stabbed 
him to the heart. 

The attack upon the inn of Blair rather turned the 
tide against the insurgents ; the garrison there giving them 
some good h\o\fs in return for those they received, and 
finally getting off in safety to the castle of the same place, 
where they found shelter. Blair Castle was strongly gar- 
risoned under Sir Andrew Agnew, a brave officer of the 
old school, and with a particularly hot temper. Rumours 
of the Highlanders being afloat had already reached his 
vigilant ears; and when the little party from the inn, 
bearing all the marks of recent conflict, made their ap- 
8* 



178 PEINCE CHARLIE, 



pearance, the old gentleman was thoroughly informed of 
the state that things were in. Instantly a detachment 
was ordered under arms, and, commanded by himself, 
marched out to the scene of their operations. Day was 
already breaking, when Lord George and his small party 
of four or five-and-twenty men found themselves at Bruar, 
the appointed meeting-place, awaiting the arrival of his 
dispersed companies. The news of Sir Andrew's approach 
w^as not quite so satisfactory to him. Retreat, and flight 
among the neighbouring hills, were both hastily suggested 
by his people ; but had he in either of these ways aban- 
doned his scattered detachments, they would have been 
cut ofl*, one after another, as they arrived at the rendezvous. 
Resistance was equally out of the question, on account of 
the disproportion between the parties. Sir Andrew and 
his host, would have swallowed up my lord's paltry troop 
at a single mouthful. In war, however, stratagem often 
supplies the place both of arms and men, and Lord George 
determined to try what it could do for him in his present 
difficulty. His own force, it has been said, was ridicu- 
lously inadequate to the meeting of that which the tough 
Royalist veteran was rapidly bringing up to attack him ; 
so, as flight was not to be thought of, he was obliged to 
try what a make-believe army could do for him. With 
this intent he ordered his four and twenty Scots to range 
themselves behind a high stone wall, that fortunately was 
close at hand, at a little distance from each other, and to 



^ 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 179 

display, at intervals, the colours of the whole force with 
which he had quitted Inverness ; these having been left 
with his small party. The pipers, too, by great good luck, 
had also been left behind — they wanted no music for their 
midnight expedition — and these were bidden, as soon as 
Sir Andrew's corps appeared in sight, to play up their 
loudest and screamiest pibrochs, each a different one, so as 
to convey an idea of the presence of numerous bodies of 
Highlanders. The standards were at the same time to be 
unfurled and waved, while the men, placed thus at inter- 
vals, were commanded to flourish their swords about their 
heads, making each one, thanks to the high wall which 
concealed their real number, look as if he were an officer 
at the head of his own troop ; the troop being supposed 
to stand in the intervening space, where neither swords 
nor anything else were to be seen. This simple, yet 
clever trick, succeeded beyond belief. Just at sunrise 
grim old Sir Andrew hove in sight. Up screeched the 
bagpipes, a long line of colours fluttered in the air over 
imaginary troops, here and there above the top of that 
friendly wall gleamed the broadswords. Could Sir 
Andrew, old soldier as he was, doubt that he was just on 
the point of being set upon by, nobody knows how many 
of the enemy, perchance an army 1 If he did, his men 
did not. Just one pause at the unexpected sights and 
sounds, and then the gruff" voice of the blanked old com- 
mander called a halt ; the next moment they were wheeled 



180 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

round, marched off at quick step, and did not stop till 
they had placed themselves again within the sheltering 
walls of Blair Castle. 

Lord George's scattered troops rejoining him, one by- 
one, after their night's work, he determined in his turn to 
follow Sir Andrew, and besiege him in his own castle ; or 
rather, not exactly his own, seeing the place belonged to 
Lord George's brother, the Duke of Athol, who, as favour- 
able to the existing government, had succeeded to the 
title and estates in place of his elder brother, TuUibardine. 
TuUibardine's deprivation of his rights, in consequence of 
his share in the rebellion of 1715, has already been men- 
tioned. 

The errand on which Lord George had left Inverness 
caused him to be but indifferently supplied with materials 
for a siege ; at least, if it was to be carried on decorously, 
according to established forms. To fire away at thick 
stone walls with a couple of small field-pieces was scarcely 
decent according to military usage, and it was duly made 
game of, even by the old knight who commanded at Blair. 
Sir Andrew, grave and grim as he was, could yet crack a 
joke himself when it came in his way ; and watching the 
absurd eff'ects of these two little guns, that were indeed 
•playing ball against the castle, he is reported to have 
said quizzically, " The man must be mad, knocking down 
his own brother's house ! " 

No apprehensions of this kind, however, perturbed 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 181 

Lord George Murray. Perhaps he was aware that those 
who never attempt ^mlikely things, are not the men to 
perform even likely ones. Small guns or no guns, no 
matter; he had stout hearts with him, and that was 
enough to encourage him to try his strength with the gen- 
tleman who held his brother's house against him. If he 
could do nothing more, he was competent to blockading 
the garrison, and thus might, perchance, starve them out. 
So, in military phrase, he " sat down " before Blair Cas- 
tle, absolutely preventing any going out or coming in 
there ; meanwhile instructing each of his followers to give 
the contents of his " Brown Bess " to anybody who might 
chance to show himself either at window, loop-hole, or on 
the walls. 

The blockade was well kept ; nor were Lord George's 
instructions in shooting, thrown away upon his men. The 
siege was protracted ; and, as the besieged could do little 
or nothing to help themselves, time hung heavy on their 
hands. It was soon found out that the tartan-clad host 
outside " popped " at everything in the shape of a man, 
that presented itself about the castle ; and in their utter 
dreariness some of the young officers thought they would 
get a bit of fun out of this. No sooner said than done. 
They managed to lay hold of a worn-out uniform of Sir 
Andrew's, and, by help of much stuffing, constructing a 
most respectable scarecrow out of this, they set it up at 
a loop-hole, placed a telescope in the hand of the figure, 



182 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

as though it were reconnoitring the country or the enemy, 
and then retired to watch the result. It was delightful. 
One after another of the best " shots " among the High- 
landers, poured in bullets without number on the im- 
perturbable figure, which, to the dismay of the sharp- 
shooters, never winced or left its position. There it 
stood, day after day, still continually looking over the 
country with the same everlasting telescope, and still 
none the worse for its peppering. That stiff old file, the 
governor, began at last to wonder how it was that the 
enemy was always firing away at that particular loop- 
hole. At last the truth came out ; and the young gentle- 
men were in for it then. If it had been Sir Andrew him- 
self upon whom they had been playing tricks, instead of 
upon Lord George and his best marksmen, he could not 
have been more seriously offended. For any one to 
" poke fun " out of the incidents of a real siege was a thing 
quite incomprehensible to him — nay, it was unpardonable 
levity — and he deter mimined to make the youngsters 
smart for it. Every mother's son of the sprightly lads 
who had been concerned in the joke, was put under arrest, 
and would have been much more sharply dealt with after- 
wards, but that the raising of the siege gave the angry 
baronet something else to think about. 

The fun-making was not confined to one side. Poor 
Sir Andrew's irritable temper, which w^as well known, 
tempted some of the Highland chiefs to beguile the tedi- 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIER. 183 

ousness of a blockade — the most stupid of all military 
performances — by playing upon it. Accordingly, picking 
out the shabbiest bit of paper that could be found, a for- 
mal summons to Sir Andrew to surrender the castle, 
with all its stores, ammunition, and men, was written 
upon it, and signed by their names ; while to make the 
joke more complete, this precious document was sent to 
the castle by a barefoot Highland lass, who, serving at 
the inn of Blair, had often waited upon the officers of the 
garrison. Off she set with it in perfect good faith ; as 
she drew near, flourishing the paper over her head by 
way of making it apparent that she was the bearer of a 
flag of truce. Sir Andrew's young officers were delighted 
with the joke ; especially on seeing the earnestness with 
which this extraordinary envoy backed the demand, of 
which she was the bearer, assuring them that, if they did 
not comply with its conditions, the castle would be 
knocked to pieces about their ears, for there were, at least, 
a thousand of them outside. 

When they had had their laugh out, they desired her 
to return, and tell the gentlemen who had sent her, that 
they would soon sweep them out of their way. But the 
poor girl, in her simplicity imagining that it was a serious 
business on which she had come," was not to be got rid of 
in that style. She insisted that her message should be 
delivered to the governor himself; and one of them at 
last was goose enough to carry it to him. The explosion * 



184: PRINCE CHARLIE, 

of Sir Andrew's wrath was dreadful. To have Blair 
Castle, of which he was governor, summoned by a maid 
servant, was an indignity of which he had never dreamed, 
and which, but for its being actually done, he would have 
believed impossible. In a towering passion he hurried off 
the unhappy lieutenant, who had made himself the medium 
of communication between " Molly " of the inn, and Sir 
Andrew Agnew, Baronet, with the abominable scrap of 
paper, which was to be forthwith returned to its imperti- 
nent writers, by the hand of their chosen messenger. He 
further bestowed upon Lord George, the author of the 
joke, more hard names than would be convenient to re- 
peat, but such as may be imagined from an angry old 
soldier, bearded in his very den in so outrageous a fash- 
ion ; adding, moreover, by way of still further relieving 
his feelings, that their next ambassador should be shot 
through the head, be he who he might. 

The girl, hearing what passed, fled in a fright to her 
employers, and gravely told the result of her embassy to 
Murray, Nairn, Cluny, and other officers who had had a 
hand in the jest, and were now waiting to know the up- 
shot of their mischievous trick. Poor Molly was serious 
enough, but she nearly threw them into fits with laughing 
at her dolorous account of what came of carrying that bit 
of paper to Sir Andrew Agnew. 

They did not laugh, however, when the Eoyalists com- 
pelled their falling back again upon Inverness. This took 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIER. 185 

place at the end of a strict blockade of fourteen days ; so 
strict that the garrison was reduced to eating horse-flesh, 
and had, as it is said, the last charge in their guns, when 
they were relieved by the Earl of Crawfurd and his dra- 
goons, followed by the Duke of Athol himself. 

Prince Frederic and a strong body of his Hessians 
also marched from Perth, where they were encamped, to 
the succor of Blair Castle, which, however, they did not 
reach. They got as far as Dunkeld comfortably enough 
— ^liorse, foot, and artillery ; but after leaving that place 
they began to find themselves in something like a wasp's 
nest. At every point they were attacked by invisible as- 
sailants. Any bush, thicket, or jagged bit of rock served 
as a screen, whence death-dealing bullets flew among them, 
none knowing from whose hand. They struggled on 
through this embarrassing species of warfare, till they ar- 
rived at the Pass of Killicranky, where they hesitated, and 
no wonder. There stretched before them, for a couple of 
miles, a sort of track on the huge mountain side ; vast 
overhanging crags above ; beneath a sheer precipice, at 
whose foot tumbled and raved a swift river ; while the 
nimble Highlanders, who could skip from crag to crag 
like goats, were prepared to dispute the passage with 
them. It is said, discretion is the better part of valour. 
The Hessians, then, had this better part, for they simply 
declined entering the horrid pass that lay between them 
and Blair Castle; nor could Lord Crawfurd's blandish- 



186 PRIKCE CHAELIE, 



ments, or menaces either, persuade them to it. The 
rescue of Sir Andrew and his garrison was, therefore, due 
to Crawfurd and Athol, who, being at home, were not quite 
so frightened by this " stern gateway into the Highlands " 
. — where the gallant Dundee met his death — as were their 
foreign friends. They got through it with the loss of only 
two men, who were shot by a lad from the height above. 



1 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 187 



CHAPTER XI. 

Notwithstanding the trivial successes which we have 
been narrating, such as the rout of Moy, the taking of 
Inverness, and the destruction of so many of the enemy's 
posts in Perthshire, which were in themselves cheering, 
Charles's serious disasters were still increasing. It is 
true he was protected by the wild, barren hills, among 
which his faithful adherents were lying ; but then he was 
shut up within their dreary barriers. His resources were 
growing smaller and smaller. His money was so near 
exhausted that he was compelled to pay his troops in oat- 
meal ; and for any other provision that they required 
they had to sell what they did not want of this, in order 
to procure a few pence for its purchase. If they had had 
plenty even of this oatmeal, they might, with their hardy 
habits, have contrived to " rough it " for a while ; but 
unluckily even its supplies were uncertain, and at times 
scanty. So that the poor hungry fellows grew sullen and 
discontented, and were disposed to charge their officers 
with wrongfully withholding their pay from them, in order 



188 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

to enrich themselves ; when in truth many of those gen- 
tlemen were in such a state as to be thankful when they 
could get a few cabbage leaves from the kale-yards of the 
neighbouring farmers. Starving people are seldom rea- 
sonable. Several vessels had been dispatched from 
France with supplies for the Prince ; but they had either 
been captured by the English ships that were always 
cruising about, or been compelled to put back again to 
escape such a fate. 

Among these captures, the most unfortunate one for 
the insurgents was that of the Prince Charles j formerly 
the Hazard. She was sent over from France with stores 
of various kinds, and more than ten thousand pounds in 
money. On approaching the coast she was chased by an 
English ship, the Sheerness, which, coming within range, 
opened fire upon her so hotly, and with such deadly aim, 
as to kill thirty-six of her crew, and wound several others. 
Seeing no other escape, the Prince Charles was run ashore 
on the sands of Melness, in the extreme north of Suther- 
landshire, and so got rid of her pursuer, who was not dis- 
posed to venture on so desperate a measure. She had 
better, however, have run out to sea and taken her 
chance ; for, after her treasure had been landed, the con- 
voy was fallen upon by the friends of Lord Eeay, a gov- 
ernment man, upon whose shores the vessel had thus 
unhappily grounded. Sir Henry Munro, son of him who 
was slain at Falkirk ; Lord Charles Gordon, who did not. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 189 

it seems, side with his family ; Captain M'Leod, with 
others of Lord Loudon's regiment, which, it will be re- 
membered, had been chased into Sutherlandshire, formed 
the attacking party on this occasion. Several of the crew 
were killed in the encounter, and the remainder being 
overpowered, all the stores, comprising fourteen chests of 
arms (pistols and swords), thirteen barrels of powder, and 
other warlike material, together with the large amount of 
gold brought over, fell into the hands of the captors, or 
their friends. The Royalists made a hundred and fifty-six 
prisoners, including forty Trench officers ; and these 
were at once embarked in the Sheerness, and sent to the 
Duke's headquarters at Aberdeen. Unfortunately for 
Charles, other prisoners were also made about this same 
time ; one of the Mackays, Lord Reay's clan, having sur- 
prised the Earl of Cromarty, and his son. Lord M'Leod, in 
a castle belonging to the Countess of Sutherland, and 
shipped them off for London ; thus depriving the Prince 
of the whole of the Earl's clan, numbering at least five 
hundred fighting men. The story goes that the Earl and 
his son, having no idea of danger at hand, were simply 
paying a polite visit to the countess, when they were thus 
surrounded and made prisoners. 

From the prisoners the Duke learned that further aid 
from France was expected by Charles ; and this circum« 
stance, together with the clearing up of the weather, 
which would render the passage of his troops through tho 



190 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

country possible, decided him to make an attempt to 
reach the insurgents, and fight it out. The waters of the 
Spey, the most rapid river in Scotland, and which had to 
be crossed to get at the Prince, had been much swollen 
with the violent rains, but were now abating ; so that by 
the time they were reached, it was judged that the fords 
would be passable. His route was to be the coast road, 
by Banff and Cullen, which would bring them to the 
river, Charles's frontier defence. A fleet was to accom- 
pany his march, to supply his army with provisions. 
The force which he moved from Aberdeen amounted to 
nine thousand men, and was made up of two regiments of 
dragoons (our old friends), a company of horse command- 
ed by the Duke of Kingston, the Argyle men, Campbell's, 
and fifteen battalions of infantry. He had also some 
artillery. Lord Albermarle, and Generals Bland and 
Mordaunt, commanded under him. The enemy were not 
unaware of their intentions, and for several days before 
the march, employed their emissaries to instil vague fears 
into the Duke's army, by dropping in the streets of Aber- 
deen, in and about which the force was stationed, papers con- 
taining intimations of the dangers that awaited them in 
their progress. One of these mentioned that the neigh- 
bourhood of the Spey, the passes to which had been com- 
mitted to the keeping of Lord John Drummond, was 
mined, and that on their approach these mines would bo 
exploded, and the Royalists duly sent flying into the air. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 191 

This would surely have frightened those discreet Hes- 
sians, had they been of the number appointed for this 
northern service. But it does not appear that they were ; 
some difference between their Prince and the Duke, re- 
specting a proposition for an exchange of prisoners during 
the war, having led the former to refuse permission for 
his subjects to thrust themselves any further into a quar- 
rel in which they could not take a particularly lively 
interest, and where the Duke's harsh mode of conducting 
business would have exposed them to contend with men 
driven to desperation. 

The long line of horse, foot, and artillery, red 
uniforms, and Campbell tartans, moved off from Aber- 
deen and its neighbourhood by way of Old Meldrum, 
where Mordaunt, with three battalions of foot and the 
artillery, had camped. This was their first night's halt. 
Next day, the 9th of April, Banff was reached, after ford- 
ing the broad stream of the river Devoren, on which the 
town stands. And here they seized two rebel spies, 
who were taking the number of the Duke's army, re- 
cording it in primitive fashion by notches on a stick. 
They were at once hung up without mercy ; one to a tree, 
the other to the projecting roof-pole of a house. This 
poor wretch had a label fastened upon his breast, on 
which was written in large characters, " A Rebel Spy." 
Proceeding onwards to Cullen, the Royalist vanguard — 
Kingston's horse — was not a little alarmed at seeing a 



192 PRIITCE CHARLIE, 

great fire burning fiercely about a mile and a half to 
their left. Their excited feelings were, however, soon 
calmed and relieved by ascertaining that it was only a 
church belonging to the Episcopalians, which had been 
subjected to the process already spoken of, as the one 
deemed best adapted for winning back to his Majesty 
of England, the affections of that class of his disaffected 
subjects. 

Six miles further, and at a pretty little seaside 
village, the whole army, which had thus far marched in 
separate divisions, united. Finding quarters for so 
many was out of the question ; so the cavalry had the 
best of it, being, till the end of the campaign, billeted in 
the adjacent towns, while the foot were permitted to 
make themselves " comfortable " under canvas. On this 
particular night they had some ploughed fields near 
Cullen for their bedroom. 

Their next day's march among the dreary hills, which 
no one had then learned to consider beautiful, brought 
them to the town of Fochabers, close to the formidable 
river that coursed so swiftly between them and the 
enemy. On their way hither they were cheered by the 
sight of the grain-laden transports, with their armed 
protectors, the men-of-war standing in close to the shore. 
Then some skirmishing parties of the insurgents, who 
had crossed the i-iver, came in sight;" and the men-of- 



THE YOrxa CHEVALIER. ■ 193 

war, levelling their guns, sent a few shots flying among 
them. 

On the other side of the river the camp of the insur- 
gents made rather a formidable appearance ; for Charles, 
hearing of the Duke's intended march, had charged Lord 
. John Drummond with the defence of its fords. He was 
sent off post haste to Elgin, with his own regiment of 
Scots, part of the Irish brigade. Lord Elcho and his cavalry, 
and a portion of Fitz- James's French regiment, which 
had j ust landed at Peterhead. These last were marched 
out before they could get provided with horses ; but 
they carried with them saddles, bridles, and other 
harness, which were hurriedly placed on such animals as 
they picked up in their way — not a very effective cavalry 
one would think. Lord John was desired to throw up 
intrenchments along the river banks, so as to command 
the fords, and, by hook and crook, prevent the Duke's 
passage of it ; or, if that should be impossible, at least 
to delay it till the whole insurgent force could be collect- 
ed to meet him. For at that time the Prince's army 
was much weakened by parties having gone off on 
furlough to their homes ; some of them in hope of finding 
more provision there, than the commissariat of Inverness 
could furnish. 

This was the force that came in sight, as the Royalists 
approached the deep and rapid Spey. Nothing daunted, 
however, on they went, the advance guard, consisting 



194 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

of Kingston's horse, then halting at the head of a 
ploughed field within half a mile of the river, to await 
further orders. Presently up came the foot, with the 
guns lumbering behind them ; but before any plans for pro- 
ceeding could be arranged, wreaths of smoke were seen 
curling up among the white flags on the opposite bank, 
and it was soon apparent that the insurgents had fired 
their camp. This did not look as if they intended to 
stand fight, and so, indeed, it proved; for Lord John, 
doubting his ability to make good the three fords against 
so numerous a body, judged it most prudent to fall back, 
and leave the way open for the Duke — a decision that 
struck consternation throughout the Prince's army when 
it became known there, though Lord George tried to 
cheer his friends by saying that the more of the Elector's 
troops passed the Spey, the fewer there would be to 
return. 

The advanced guard now marched on, right through 
the one long street of which the town of Fochabers 
consisted. The townspeople stood at their doors as the 
soldiers passed, staring at them with all their eyes ; but 
not a soul gave them any kindly greeting, or wished 
them success. 

A halt was again called by the river side, and then 
the army was told off in three divisions, for the three 
fords, one of which was at Yarmouth, another near 
Gordon Castle, and a third, close by a village church in 



THE TOTJNa CHEVALIER. 195 

the neighbourhood. Awkward fords they were, and the 
insurgents might have done the troops a considerable 
amount of mischief while they were entangled in them, 
had they been disposed. As it was, they contented them- 
selves with a little sharp-shooting across the river, 
kneeling down, and taking sights at the enemy, as though 
they had been so many blackcocks. 

The entrance of the fords being thus unopposed, the 
word of command was given to cross over. The vanguard 
dashed into the water, with a guide on foot, wading to 
show them the somewhat intricate path. Loose stones 
at the bottom made it a very embarrassing one both for 
horse and foot, who went stumbling along waist deep in 
the stream. Slipping and scrambling, keeping their 
clothing and accoutrements out of the wet as well as they 
could, they got half way over, and then in the mid-stream 
had to turn at right angles, and go down it sixty yards, 
then turn again to the left, and so zigzag it out, and 
up the bank. O what a flanking fire Lord John might 
have treated them to, if he had only carried out his 
orders! Lord Elcho and his life guards had spirit 
enough to remain behind, and give the English a few 
shots while they were in the river. They were soon, 
however, compelled to retire, and were so hotly pursued 
by the Duke's cavalry, after it had floundered ashore, as 
to escape with some difficulty. One of their officers had 
a narrow escape of being made prisoner. When dis 



196 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

charging his pistol he accidentally shot his own horse in 
the neck. Plunging suddenly with the pain, the animal 
threw his master; who, just as some English horsemen 
were eagerly stretching out their hands to lay hold of 
him, sprang up behind one of his own troopers, whose 
good steed, carrying double, brought both of them off. 

The army got safely over at the three different fords 
with only the loss of one dragoon and a woman, who were 
drowned through slipping off their horse. The troops were 
treated with rum and biscuit for their supper ; and as the 
insurgents had by this time disappeared, the infantry at 
once camped on the north bank of the Spey, having un- 
thrashed barley for their beds, for want of straw. The 
horse recrossed the river, and were quartered in the town 
of Fochabers. The Duke took up his quarters with the 
foot, lodging in the very house that Lord John Drum- 
mond had just quitted. 

Next morning, the horse having again crossed the river 
to rejoin their comrades, the march was resumed to Elgin, 
which was reached at noon. After they had had their 
dinner the bugles again sounded, and that night's halt was 
on the moor of Alves. They got on swimmingly now, 
with the enemy cleared out of their way, fine weather, and 
good hard roads ; and though the river Findhorn had to 
be waded before reaching Nairn, that was well got through, 
save that one poor horse, embarrassed with baggage, was 
swept doAVTi the stream and drowned. 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 197 

At Nairn, they were almost upon the heels of the in- 
surgents. As the Royalists approached, a body of High- 
landers were seen moving on ; and Kingston's horse, to- 
gether with four companies of the Argyle men, were or- 
dered after them. It, however, only served to quicken 
their pace, a few of the hindmost falling into the hands of 
their pursuers. Perth himself, mounted on one of his fine 
steeds, waited till the enemy was within a couple of hun- 
dred yards of him, and then, clapping spurs to his horse, 
shot swiftly out of their reach. 

When Lord John Drummond's force retired, and 
brought Charles news of the Duke's having crossed the 
Spey, the Prince at once prepared to advance and meet 
his opponent. On the 14th of April the remains of his 
army were drawn up at Inverness, that he might review 
them. As he walked along their lines he was received 
with loud shouts of joy, while many of the Highlanders 
cried out, "We know Cumberland ; we'll give him an- 
other Fontenoy." In this cheery mood, with the prospect 
of a battle before them, the poor half-starving fellows 
marched out of Inverness towards Culloden Moor, four 
miles off. Here they camped for the night, the heath 
serving them both for bed and fire ; for though so late in 
the spring, the nights were bitterly cold, and half-fed peo- 
ple feel cold much more acutely than those who have had 
their fill of beef and bread. The whole of their next day's 
provision consisted of one small coarse cake, made of what 



198 PEIKCE CHARLIE, 

appeared to be the sweepings, husks and all, of the mill 
floor. For dessert to this miserable dinner, they had a not 
very distant view of the enemy's heavily laden transports, 
gliding tranquilly into the Frith, to disembark their stores 
at Nairn. 

Expecting the Royalists would soon be upon them, the 
Prince's army was, early on the morning of the 15th, 
drawn up in order of battle ; but no attack upon it was 
made. Indeed, the Royalists were very differently occu- 
pied. Being the Duke's birthday, a day's rest, with bis- 
cuit, brandy, and beef to match, had been given them at 
Nairn ; so that while the insurgents were waiting for them, 
with artillery planted, and all the preparations for a stiff 
struggle, they were eating, drinking, and huzzaing to their 
heart's content, by way of doing honour to their young 
commander. 

When apprised of this, Charles determined that he too 
would keep the Duke's birthday, or rather birthnight, 
though after a different fashion ; and, taking for granted 
that after a day's revelry, negligent watch would be kept 
at night, he decided that it should be by giving his Royal 
Highness a surprise, as soon as it was dark enough to 
conceal his own movements. The foraging parties were, 
therefore, ordered to be immediately recalled — a command 
more easily given than obeyed ; for under the influence of 
raging hunger, the poor fellows had become insensible to 
the claims of duty. It was in vain that their officers 



THE YOTNa CHEVALIEE. 199 

sought by threats to compel their return. The answer 
was, they might shoot them if they liked ; as well die that 
way as by starvation; so that at eight o'clock in the 
evening, the time fixed upon for the setting out of the ex- 
pedition, there was not above half the number of men that 
there ought to have been. Charles's ardour for conflict 
and his trust in his Highlanders were, however, so great, 
that he would not permit this to thwart his design. He 
would have been willing to make the attack if only a 
thousand of his faithful Scots had followed him. 

The troops, such as they were, being mustered, were 
formed in two columns — the first under Lord George 
Murray, the second headed by the Prince himself. The 
watchword by which, in the dark, friend might be known 
from foe, was " King James VIII." The instructions given 
to the eager Highlanders showed in how desperate a spirit 
the attack was to be made. The report of fire-arms would 
have betrayed them ; these, therefore, were not to be used. 
They were to creep noiselessly into the midst of the 
enemy's camp, overturn their tents, and then cold steel 
was to do the business. Wherever the swelling of the 
canvas showed a form beneath it, there the dirk, the 
sword, or the slender, deadly bayonet, that lets out life 
through an almost invisible opening, was to be thrust in 
with all their might. No fear of that command being dis- 
obeyed. And woe betide the man who got that thrust ! 
No second would be needed. 



200 PI^INCE CHARLIE, 

All being ready to move, the heath was set on fire 
here and there, to look, in the distance, like their camp 
fires. Had no lights been visible, the enemy would have 
suspected they had changed their ground, and so have been 
prepared for the chance of its being in the direction of 
Nairn. This being done, away they marched on their en- 
terprise, with the hope of stealing upon the Duke's camp 
about midnight. 

They tramped on in the dark for some miles as quietly 
as possible, none daring even to speak above his breath ; 
for such had been their orders. Weary miles they were, 
over broken and marshy ground, which, accustomed as 
were these fleet-footed mountaineers to rough, rugged 
ways, tried even them ; for the extreme darkness of the 
night, favourable as it was to the secrecy upon which the 
success of the scheme depended, baflled, and caused them 
to lose their way. Hour after hour passed, and found 
them still struggling, stumbling, and dispersed in all direc- 
tions, unable to see their road before them, or to keep to- 
gether in anything like military order. Some sank down 
exhausted, and dropped off" at once into a heavy sleep, 
from which there was no rousing them. That one wretch- 
ed biscuit of oatmeal dust and husks, could not put 
strength enough into a man for so toilsome a journey as 
this night march proved. Midnight was the time when 
they were to have sprung into the sleeping camp ; but 
midnight was now two hours past, and yet the head of 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 



201 



Lord George's column had only just arrived at Kilravocli, 
three miles from the camp at Nairn. The second column 
was, nobody knew where, or at least far, far behind. 

Just at this juncture, amid the stillness of night, the 
far-off cry of the Duke's outpost sentries, and the guard 
going its rounds, was heard:— "Is all well?" "All's 
well." As if in answer to this, the horse of one of the in- 
surgent officers, thought proper to give a friendly neigh. 
What was to be done 1 It was now clearly impossible 
to reach the enemy's camp before day-dawn, and, though 
their little force might have sufficed for a surprise by 
night, as had been planned, it was quite inadequate to a 
regular attack by daylight. Perplexed in the extreme, 
Lord George halted, and held a hasty council with his 
officers. Hepburn of Keith, the gentleman who with 
drawn sword had marshalled Charles up the staircase of 
Holyrood, was vehemently in favour of going on at all 
risks. Nay, in his headlong zeal, he persisted they should 
get on the better for having light enough to see what they 
were about ; and some other hot-headed chiefs agreed with 
him. Lord George, however, was firm in his conviction 
that further advance was worse than useless ; and signs of 
life beginning to be heard in the still distant camp, con- 
firmed his opinion of the hopelessness of their enterprise. 
It was evident the enemy were astir, and not quite so 
sleepy and tipsy as it had been hoped their day's carouse 
would have made them.' 
9* 



202 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

The Prince was still too far behind to be taken into 
theil* consultations ; but while Lord George and his friends 
were hurriedly discussing their difficult position, O'Sulli- 
van rode up, with the Prince's orders to make the attack 
at once, provided Lord George thought it could now be 
done with safety. Thus commissioned to act on his own 
judgment, Lord George countermanded the advance, the 
column wheeled round, and, falling back upon the rear 
division, all returned weary, worn out, and dispirited to 
Culloden Moor, where they arrived at seven in the morn- 
ing. Some at once threw themselves down to sleep ; 
others went in search of food, which was scarce enough ; 
all that could be got for the Prince himself, who had taken 
up his quarters at Culloden House, being some bread and 
a little whiskey. Charles was much disappointed by the 
utter failure of his plan. At first he was disposed to 
blame Lord George, as having been too soon frightened 
by difficulties ; but he soon perceived that that brave man 
had only acted with becoming discretion, and he consoled 
himself by saying they should soon, after all, meet the 
enemy, and give it them. Ever mindful of the necessities 
of his followers, the Prince, before seeking the rest that 
his wearied mind, as well as body, so much needed, sent 
out foraging parties to scour the country round for such 
meat and drink as might still be found in it. This done, 
he laid him down. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEB. 203 



CHAPTEK XII. 

It was but a brief repose that any of that worn-out band 
enjoyed. The Duke of Cumberland was not a man to be 
caught napping, as they had supposed ; and it was not 
alone the delay of that miserable night-march that ruined 
its success. His spies — some of them Highlanders too-— 
were mixed among the insurgents, and kept him pretty 
well acquainted with all their movements. And though 
the secrecy with which the night attack had been planned 
had been such as to prevent any information concerning it 
reaching him, yet he was aware of their march in the 
direction of his camp, and was quite prepared for them ; 
the men sleeping on their arms, to be ready for an attack 
in the morning, which he anticipated. 

Accordingly, to be beforehand with them, at fouj?" 
o'clock of the very morning that the Highlanders had been 
compelled to abandon their design upon him, his drums 
beat to arms, his men were drawn out, and, being formed 
in four columns, left the ground which they had occupied 
near Nairn, to go in search of the insurgents. Of these 



204 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

four columns, three were of foot regiments, each consist- 
ing of five battalions ; the cavalry formed the fourth, and 
were placed so as to protect the left wing of the force, 
which was the one most exposed to the enemy, the sea 
" covering," in military language, their right : that simply 
means, that their march was so near the seacoast that no 
one could get at them on that side. About eleven in the 
morning the camp of the insurgents on that wide, dreary 
Culloden, or Drummossie Moor, came in sight of the 
King's troops : they, too, in their turn, were perceived in 
the distance by the advanced guards of the Highland army. 
The Prince was instantly roused, and, in company with 
Perth, Murray, and Drummond, rode forward to the field. 
Cannon were fired to wake the sleepers, and they came 
swarming in from the various places in the neighbourhood, 
where they had found a few hours' shelter and sleep. 
One of the Prince's aides-de-camp, who had gone as far as 
Inverness, had just pulled off his clothes, half asleep all 
the while, and got one foot in bed, when drums beating to 
arms, and the trumpets of Fitz-James's troops calling to 
boot and saddle, left no chance for the other to follow it. 
Huddling on his dress again with half-closed eyes, he hastily 
mounted and rejoined the army, which was now getting 
into order on the moor. Its disastrous night journey had 
ill fitted it for the coming struggle with the well-fed, suffi- 
ciently rested, and much more numerous Royalist force, 
now spreading itself over the plain ; yet the men, shaking 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 205 

off their weariness at the approach of danger, were full of 
spirit, greeting their Prince as he rode among them with 
hearty cheers. They were animated, too, by the timely 
arrival, that same morning, of some more of the clans ; so 
that they now mustered five thousand against nine 
thousand. 

The odds against them would have been still greater 
but for the zeal of a Jacobite lady, whose husband, hav- 
ing raised his people with the intention of leading them 
off to the Duke, had the boiling tea-kettle so discreetly 
emptied over his legs by his excellent wife, as effectually 
to fasten him to his arm-chair instead of marching off to 
fight — an intentional accident which the lady improved 
by sending out the clan, under a command of her own 
choosing, to " bonnie Prince Charlie." A pleased and 
proud woman was she to stay at home and tend her hus- 
band's scalded legs : what did they matter, provided the 
Prince had but " his own again 1 " 

Great as was still the disparity between their num- 
bers, and still more so between the condition of the two 
armies, Charles had no notion of declining the battle 
about to be offered him. Perhaps it was, as some of his 
officers said, that he was too fond of fighting battles, re- 
gardless of the chances against him. But he came of an 
heroic stock on both sides, and he had boundless confi- 
dence in his Highlanders, who indeed deserved it. He 
would not, on this occasion, even retire to what was 



206 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

deemed a stronger position, but resolved to brave it out 
where they were, on the heather of Culloden Moor, that 
same 16th of April, 1746. 

His army was disposed in two lines ; their left pro- 
tected by some marshy ground, mid-leg deep in water, 
their right by some inclosures and walls belonging to a 
farm-house. The first line was composed of Highland 
clans — the Macdonalds of Glengarry, Clanranald, and 
Keppoch, M' Leans, M'Leods, Macintoshes, Farquharsons, 
Frasers, Stuarts of Appin, Camerons, and Murrays ; com- 
manded on the right by Lord George Murray, on the left 
by Lord John Drummond, and strengthened by two 
troops of horse. The second line, under General Staple- 
ton, comprised the Gordon and other Low-country regi- 
ments, together with the Irish and French troops. Some 
of these regiments consisted of only two or three hundred 
men. Four pieces of artillery were stationed on each 
wing of the first line, and also in the centre. The reserve 
consisted of some of Lord Kilmarnock's guards, and other 
cavalry. Charles, with his life guards, took up a position 
a little in the rear, upon a rising ground, which enabled 
him to command the battle-field. 

The Royalists were drawn up in three lines, com- 
manded by Albemarle, Bland, Lord Ancrum, Huske, and 
Mordaunt. Between every two regiments in the first 
line two guns were placed. Ker's dragoons protected the 
left ; the right, stretching away to a morass, was ablq to 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 207 

take care of itself. The Campbells had a post of more 
usefulness than honour — that of guarding the baggage ; 
but somebody must take care even of baggage, when a 
battle is to be fought. The Duke placed himself on the 
right of his troops ; the hero of Falkirk and the race to 
Linlithgow w^as on the left. 

Before engaging, the Duke again addressed his soldiers, 
offering free permission to all who were either afraid, or 
unwilling to fight their friends and relations, to retire 
from the ranks. He was answered by loud shouts of 
" Flanders, Flanders, lead on ! " 

All their preparations being complete, it was suggest 
ed to the Duke that, as it was now near one o'clock, the 
men had better get their dinner. To this, however, he 
returned a prompt negative, declaring they would fight 
better without it, adding pleasantly, in allusion to Haw- 
ley's defeat, " You remember what a dessert they got to 
their dinners at Falkirk." 

Some manoeuvring now took place, and the Eoyalists, 
advancing a little, found their artillery bogged in the wet, 
marshy ground that lay between them and the enemy. 
One gun broke down in it, but strenuous pushing and 
hauling at last got it out, and firmer ground was gained. 
This move, however, exposed their right flank, which had 
been before protected by the marsh; so another foot 
regiment w^as ordered into the front, and Kingston's horse, 



208 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

together with some dragoons, were moved from their 
former post, and placed so as to cover this right flank. 

The two armies were now standing within a few hun- 
dred yards of each other, when black clouds that had been 
gathering overhead, burst in a storm of rain and snow, 
which a strong north wind blew full in the faces of the 
Highlanders. This was bad for them, while it gave great 
advantage to the Royalists. Presently Lord Bury, the 
Duke's aide-de-camp, rode forward to reconnoitre, and 
was saluted by the insurgents with a round from their 
guns ; so ill pointed and served, however, that almost all 
the balls flew over the heads of the enemy. This was 
answered, with dreadful precision, by the Royalist bat- 
teries, whose shot mowed down the Highlanders by 
scores. Charles himself, slowly proceeding down his own 
lines to animate his men, was specially aimed at by the 
Duke's artillery, who so nearly hit their mark as to kill 
his servant, standing by him with a spare horse, and cover 
the Prince from head to foot with the earth thrown up 
by their shot. 

The cannonading continued for some time on both 
sides, but greatly to the loss of the insurgents, who chafed 
and fretted at being thus compelled to stand still to be 
killed, instead of, as usual, making one of their fierce 
charges — charges which, at Preston and Falkirk, had 
swept the enemy off* the field in utter rout and ruin. At 
length Charles sent forward an aide-de-camp to order a 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER, 209 

general advance of the first line, but the poor lad was shot 
down before he could reach it. By this time, however, 
Lord George himself saw that they must charge imme- 
diately, and was just on the point of leading them on, 
when suddenly the Macintoshes, without waiting for or- 
ders, broke from the line, and with wild shouts rushed on 
the enemy. They were instantly followed tumultuously 
by other clans — Murrays, Erasers, Stuarts, Camerons — 
till the whole of the right wing and centre, with Lord 
George at their head, went headlong at the Royalist ranks, 
crashing through them, spite of the storm of grape and 
musketry, with which they were received. Even the 
veterans of Flanders gave way before that furious onset, 
as, throwing down their muskets after pouring in a volley, 
the Highlanders, sword in hand, leaped in among them 
with yells, and cries of, " Run, ye dogs ! " Two of the 
murderous cannon were quickly captured ; and then, 
mixed up, friend and foe, hand to hand, the fight was ter- 
rible. Dirk, broadsword, halberd, each was wielded with 
fierce energy; while the target, that had before baffled 
and turned aside the bayonets of the English, by some 
new tactics introduced by the Duke, was now powerless 
against that fatal weapon, which was thrust up to its very 
socket in the bodies of the Highlanders. Their front rank 
was almost entirely destroyed ; yet still that wave of in- 
furiate, despairing men swept on, despite a heavy flanking 
fire from one of the English infantry regiments, till, hav- 



210 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

ing cleared away the first line of the enemy, they came iu 
fierce contact with the second. 

The Duke, who knew what fighting was, had prepared 
for this, and dra^vn up his second line three deep — the 
first rank kneeling, the second stooping, the third standing 
erect, just as the first three ranks of a square of infantry 
are placed to receive a charge of cavalry. Thus stationed, 
they opened so tremendous a fire upon the remains of the 
Highland right — the roll of musketry, as it ran from right 
to left of their ranks, echoing like continued thunder 
among the adjacent hills — that those brave men first 
staggered, and then, giving way, turned and fled ; all but 
a resolute few, who desperately pressed on, and died at 
the very point of the Royalist bayonets, where their 
bodies were afterwards found, heaped one upon the other, 
three and four deep. 

But where was the Highland left wing, where the 
different Macdonald clans were posted, all this while? 
To the eternal disgrace of the Macdonalds be it said, they 
stood motionless, hewing and hacking the heath with their 
swords for rage, but absolutely resisting the agonised en- 
treaties of their officers to advance, because, forsooth, they 
had not that day the post of honour, on the right, which 
they had been used to have ever since the days of Bruce 
and Bannockburn. It was in vain that Perth, who com- 
manded the left, shouted out their well-known charging 
cry ; and, as they still hung back in sullen petulance at 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 211 

the imaginary affront that had been put upon them, as- 
sured them that, if they fought as they were wont, they 
would convert the left into a right wing, and he would 
henceforth call himself a Macdonald. Every spark of 
honour was that day extinguished in the breasts of those 
three clans, and not a man of them stirred. It was in 
vain that Keppoch, one of their own chiefs, sprang for- 
ward, exclaiming in his agony of shame, " My God ! have 
the children of my own tribe forsaken me ? " and with 
generous devotion rushed on alone against the enemy. 
He was at once shot down ; yet, disdaining the help of 
one faithful follower, who had had the heart to follow his 
master, and, raising him from that blood-stained field, with 
tears entreated him to be saved, he again staggered for- 
ward, when he sank under another shot, to rise no more. 
All this failed to move the stupid indifference of these 
Highlanders, unworthy of the name. Their dignity was 
offended ; so perish chief, Prince, the very cause for which 
they were in arms — perish everything rather than com- 
promise that! Strange that any human beings should 
be capable of such deliberate treachery — should be so 
utterly dead to every feeling of honour. But so it was ; 
and, as they had not the post of honour, no matter that 
their brothers in arms were cut to pieces — no matter that 
their own royal Stuarts were that day irretrievably ruined. 
After standing in this way for a while, calmly enduring 
the English fire, to show that it was not cowardice that 



212 



PEINCE CHAELIE 



actuated them, but still doggedly refusing to advance, they 
too, turned and fled along with the retreating centre and 
right ; the whole mingled mass being terribly cut up by 
the English horse, who dashed in among them. 

An attempt was now made to bring up the reserve, 
consisting of the Lowland regiments with the French and 
Irish troops. But though the heavy fire w^hich they kept 
up preserved those unworthy Macdonalds from the dra- 
goon charge that followed their flight, and also repulsed 
the horse who flanked them, after the Argyle men had 
broken down the park walls that defended the Highland 
right, they, too, at length fell back before the final charge 
of the English army ; retreating, however, in good order. 
Charles, with his few troopers, would fain have rallied 
them, and made one rush on the now victorious Royalists, 
but it could not be done ; and he was forced off" the field, 
one. of his officers seizing his horse's head, and turning it 
round for a hasty flight. 

It was a speedy affair, as well as a decisive one. 
Forty minutes saw the beginning and the end of it, 
though the fighting had been stout on both sides. 
Almost every man in the Highland front rank went 
down ; and the survivors of Barrel's regiment, one in the 
English first line, on which the chief shock of the charge 
fell, were said to number fifteen ! 

One portion of the defeated army fled towards 
Inverness, and were hotly pursued by the English horse, 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 213 

who left a long and dreadful line of slain, to within a 
mile of that city. Another body, taking its way 
towards the river Nairn, was met by a strong cavalry 
force, whose commander ordered his ranks to be opened 
to admit of their passing through. None ventured to 
interrupt them, save that one of the officers pushed 
forwards to seize a Highlander, and was instantly cut 
down by his intended prisoner, who then coolly stooped 
to take the fallen man's watch, quietly rejoining his 
companions as soon as he had done so. The English 
soldiers, meanwhile, sat still on their horses, looking on ; 
the commander fearing to expose his men to the rage 
of the fugitives, if they were brought to bay, absolutely 
fobidding them to touch the Highlanders, who continued 
their route to Ruthven, in Badenoch, many breaking off 
and retiring to their own homes. 

The field being left in possession of the English, 
the first use they made of the victory was to put to death, 
by bayonet stabs and sword cuts, numbers of the 
wounded Highlanders who lay there disabled and help- 
less. These murdering parties — they were nothing else 
— were no mere hangers on of the camp, wild and reck- 
less, but regular soldiers, headed in their horrible work, 
in some cases, by their own officers ; and it was carried 
on with such glee that at last they dabbled their feet in 
blood, and splashed each other with it, for pure fun, till 
they looked more like what they really were — a com- 



214 



PRINCE CHAELIE. 



pany of butchers — thari trained soldiery. It is said the 
heroes of Colt-bridge, Preston, and Falkirk particularly 
distinguished themselves by their cruelties in the field. 
This may well be believed ; such arrant cowards as they, 
are often most merciless when they rjet the upper hand. 
The Duke of Cumberland himself had his share in these 
murders. Going over the moor, followed by his staff, 
he saw a young gentleman, a Avounded Highland officer, 
raising himself up to look at the party as they rode up, 
and asked him in whose service he was. " In that of the 
Prince," was the reply. " Wolfe, shoot that insolent 
scoundrel for me," was the Duke's rejoinder, addressing 
himself to one of his officers. Smothering his indignation 
as well as he could, Major Wolfe respectfully but firmly 
declined doing this, saying that his commission was at the 
disposal of his Royal Highness, but an executioner he 
would never be. The command was repeated to others 
of his disgusted staff, none of whom would degrade them- 
selves by obeying it. Thwarted in his wish, the Duke 
looked around for some one else, and seeing a private 
soldier at hand, asked him if his musket were loaded. 
The man replied that it was ; and, hearing what was re- 
quired of him, with the utmost coolness put his bullet 
into the wounded officer, killing him on the spot. 

Having finished his tour of the battle field, the Duke 
rode forward to Inverness, meeting on the way a mes- 
senger from General Stapleton, who, on behalf of the 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 215 

French and Irish troops that he commanded, who had 
retreated to that city, offered' to surrender, entreating for 
fair terms. These were promised, and then he followed the 
party that had been sent to take possession of the town ; 
where the provision that had been with so much difficulty 
collected for the starving Highlanders proved a welcome 
refreshment for their conquerors. The Duke's first 
work on entering Inverness was to liberate from the 
to^vn jail and church, which had been turned into a tem- 
porary prison, those of his men who had on former 
occasions been taken by the insurgents. He spoke to 
these kindly, slapping them on the back as they came 
out, and promising them amends for what they had 
undergone. After this came a little congenial severity. 
Some of his own soldiers had, from time to time, de- 
serted to the Prince. Such of them as could now be 
found were brought to trial with all dispatch, and thirty- 
six of them condemned to be hanged. Execution fol- 
lowed close upon sentence ; and while their quivering 
bodies swung on the gallows, an English officer, who 
was looking on, had the brutality to run his sword into one 
of them, that of a young gentleman who had been 
guilty of this great cirme — for such it is — of deserting 
his colours. As he made his thrust, he exclaimed with 
an oath, that "all the Scots were traitors and rebels," 
like this unfortunate youth. The intemperate speech 
was like a spark to tinder. There were many Scots in 



216 PRINCE CHAELIEj 

the Duke's army, and one of their officers, flaming up 
with indignation, drew his sword upon the Englishman, 
bidding him defend himself. The quarrel spread 
rapidly; scarcely had these two crossed their swords, 
when others, hearing what it was about, drew likewise ; 
and very soon a number of officers, Scots and English, 
were hotly engaged fighting each other. The common 
men entered into the dispute with as much spirit as 
their leaders ; beat to arms ; and drawing up in the 
street, as they came flocking in from their billets, Scots 
on one side, English on the other, began to fight it out 
with fixed bayonets. They were just on the point of 
regularly charging each other, when the Duke, who had 
been hastily sent for, fortunately arrived, and with much 
ado contrived to separate them; but it cost him much 
praising and complimenting of the Scots on their well- 
tried courage and loyalty to his family, before he suc- 
ceeded in calming them down. 

Before leading on his troops at Culloden, the Duke 
declared that he would not dine till his work was done. 
Doubtless that night he dined merrily, for the blow in- 
flicted upon the insurgents was a fatal one. A thousand 
of them had fallen that day, and almost all their military 
stores were now in the hands of the English. These 
comprised thirty pieces of artillery of different kinds, 
near two hundred broadswords (the men got a shilling 
for every one they brought in), upwards of two thousand 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 217 

muskets (these were each worth half-a-crown to their 
fortunate finders), fifteen hundred musket cartridges, 
with a large quantity of ball, twenty-seven barrels of 
powder, twenty-two ammunition wagons, and fourteen 
stands of colours. The prisoners were supposed to 
amount to between three and four hundred. 

Notwithstanding the numbers of wounded, slain 
in cold blood immediately after the battle, many more 
were left lying among the heather of that melancholy 
moor, groaning, and in misery, stripped of their clothing 
by vile marauding parties, and without even a drop of 
water to quench the burning thirst of wounds and fever. 
There they lay, none pitying them, during that night, 
throughout the next day, and till the following one, when 
this inhuman Duke, hearing of it, ordered out some com- 
panies not to succour them, as is usually the case in 
civilised warfare, but to kill them outright. Such of the 
poor wretches as still survived, were picked up from 
where their agonised forms were laid on the bare heath, 
carried tosspots where they could be most conven- 
iently shot, and then a shower of bullets finished what 
little life was left in them. Even those who had 
dragged themselves to hovels in the neighbourhood, and 
there found meagre shelter, were hauled out, and shot 
like the rest. Some disabled officers who had been taken 
from among the furze, where they had crawled, to 
Culloden House, and charitably cared for there, though 
10 



218 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

itj belonged to a friend of the government, were dis- 
covered by one of these murdering parties. Being 
unable to walk, they were carted away, placed against 
the park wall, and while such of them as could move 
their shattered bodies were on their knees, appealing to 
the great and loving Father of us all, a volley was poured 
in among them. Those who were not killed at once by 
this discharge were brained by the clubbed muskets of 
the soldier-executioners. One of these unhappy gentle- 
men, with his face smashed by a gun-stock, was found 
some time after, by a Scotch Eoyalist, Lord Boyd, still 
breathing ; and that nobleman had compassion enough 
to have him removed to a place of safety, where he 
ultimately recovered. Lord Boyd was the eldest son of 
the Earl of Kilmarnock, one of Charles's friends ; and 
having had the anguish of seeing his own father brought 
in, a prisoner, on the field, and led along the lines bare- 
headed amid the pelting of the storm, without daring to 
speak one word of comfort to him, was doubtless in a 
more softened mood than some of his cruef comrades. 
In another quarter above thirty wounded Highlanders 
had sought refuge in a barn. They were easily disposed 
of. A guard with fixed bayonets being placed round the 
building, it was set on fire ; those who tried to escape the 
flames were bayoneted ; the remainder — O shame to have 
to write it ! — ^were burned alive. 

It is terrible to have to record these things against 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER 



219 



ourselves. Nor can we get out of it by pleading that the 
Duke was not altogether an Englishman; for Hawley 
was to the full as bad as he, if not worse. 

The Duke's treatment of the prisoners— for, spite of 
these wholesale murders, there were many prisoners— was 
such as might be expected from his dealings with the 
wounded. They were thrust half naked into the jail, 
and church of Inverness (in those troubled times churches 
were often converted into prisons), and kept on half allow- 
ance of oatmeal ; nor were they even allowed a surgeon 
to dress their wounds. One of their own surgeons was 
in prison with them ; but as his instruments had been 
taken from him, some said on purpose to prevent his ren- 
dering any assistance to his suffering comrades, he could 
do nothing for them. We have all of us at some time 
had a cut finger or bruise that has hurt us sadly, spite of 
the careful tending and soft bandages that mothers or doc- 
tors bestowed upon us. What must these miserable 
creatures have endured, then, with horrid gashes from 
swords, throbbing gun-shot wounds, or deep bayonet 
thrusts, left for days together to stiffen and fester, with- 
out even a rag to screen them from the irritating air ! 
Oh, it was dreadful cruelty ! Even their distressed cries 
for 'water, which filled the passers by with anguish, were 
unheeded; no one, for a time dared render them any 
assistance, for fear of that terrible Duke, or, perchance, of 
that contemptible Hawley. In the early days of our wars 



220 PKINCE CHAELIE, 

in India, when Hyder Ali shut up a number of our coun 
try men in a wretched prison house, and nearly starved 
them there, a compassionate native used daily to pass the 
place of their confinement, and, calling them all sorts 
of hard names, pelt them with little balls of clay ; but 
they soon learned his meaning, and gladly were his mis- 
siles picked up ; for, on breaking them, small coins were 
always found inside. The heart of that good fellow, 
heathen as he was, ached for those suffering men of a 
different faith and a different skin ; and he was quick to 
devise such means for their relief, as surely He, who has 
promised reward for a cup of cold water given in His 
name, would not forget, though the giver was ignorant of 
that blessed name. But in Christian Scotland, there was 
no one to take pity on these victims of a Christian general. 

Ater lying for a while in their dismal prisons, the un- 
fortunate insurgents were put on shipboard, to be sent to 
London for trial. Crammed into the holds of these ves- 
sels, the stones and earth used for ballast formed their 
beds, while an insufficient quantity of bad oatmeal and a 
little cold water were their daily food, on which some died 
of starvation. Covering they had none, save the few 
filthy rags still clinging to their wasted or wounded 
bodies. For months they were kept at sea in this dread- 
ful state, till in one vessel, into which a hundred and 
fifty-seven of them had been thrust, all, save forty-nine, 
died from the merciless severity of their treatment. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 221 

O shame, shame upon us English, and upon our great 
Duke of Cumberland ! 

Owing to the cruelty of their treatment, a violent kind 
of fever, called jail distemper, broke out among these 
poor wretches. The infection of it remained in the vessels 
that transported them to England ; and these, being after- 
wards employed to convey more troops to Scotland, com- 
municated it to the soldiers, great numbers of whom died 
in consequence. Thus our " violent dealing " came down 
upon our " own heads." 

The news of the decisive victory of Culloden was 
speedily carried to England, where it was right joyfully 
received. Lord Bury, the bearer of a dispatch from the 
Duke to his father, King George, had a thousand guineas 
for his trouble. The Duke got twenty-five thousand 
pounds a year for his, together with much ringing of 
bells, and endless bonfires and illuminations in honour of 
his success. 

It was further proposed to present the Duke with the 
freedom of one of the city companies ; but an uncompli- 
mentary alderman suggesting that it ought to be that of 
the Butchers^ the matter appears to have been dropped. 



222 PEINCE CHAELIE, 



CHAPTER Xm. 

On leaving Culloden, Charles and the party of horsemen 
that accompanied his flight rode away rapidly towards 
the river Nair, which they crossed, and then ventured to 
give themselves time to think what they should do next. 
The immediate safety of the Prince was the first object of 
their care ; and attended by a few followers he was at 
once sent westward, under the guidance of Edward 
Burke, the servant of a Mr. Macleod, who knew the coun- 
try well. This man led them first to one, then to anoth- 
er house of friendly chiefs ; but all were empty and shut 
up. At length they were more successful ; for on arriv- 
ing at Gortuleg, where one of the Erasers lived, they 
found the owner at home. The old lord, Lovat, was here 
with his kinsman. It was the first time Charles had seen 
that worthless old man, and the meeting proved not par- 
ticularly agreeable to either. Distracted by the ruin of 
the cause which he had not had the courage openly to em- 
brace, the old chief wandered up and down the house, 
crying out like a madman, " Chop off my head, chop off 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER 



223 



my head ; it is all over with us ! " Grieved at the 
sight of his distress, Charles tried to cheer him with the 
hope of their yet rallying, and meeting their enemies 
again. But presently the Prince let out his real opinion 
of the matter ; which was that indeed all was lost, unless 
his personal appeals at the court of Trance, whither he 
was now hastening, could procure for him more effectual 
aid than had yet been given him. Upon hearing this, the 
old lord turned fiercely upon him with reproaches for his 
want of spirit ; reminding him that his great ancestor, the 
Bruce, whose features were perpetuated in those of the 
young Prince, lost eleven battles before he won his crown 
at Bannockburn. Charles was not disposed to bandy 
words with his angry follower ; his resolution was taken, 
and hastily swallowing a few morsels of the food that had 
been prepared in honour of his expected victory at Cul- 
loden, he took horse again, and continued his route to the 
west, past the ruined Fort Augustus, hoping there to have 
a chance of getting aboard some French vessel. 

It was early morning when he arrived at Invergary, 
the deserted residence of one of the Macdonald chiefs. 
Worn out with fatigue and anxiety, he threw himself, 
dressed as he was, on the floor, and slept for a few hours. 
By the time he awoke, Burke had contrived to procure them 
something to eat, by catching a couple of salmon in the 
river whence Invergary takes its name. The good fellow 
— Burke tvas a good fellow, poor as he might be — cooked 



224 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

them to the best of his ability, and right savoury they 
were to hungry men. The meal was washed down with 
cold water, as there was nothing better to be had ; and 
then changing clothes with Burke, by way of disguise, 
Charles pursued his route towards the coast. That day's 
ride was not a very long one — six hours brought them to 
the house of a friendly Cameron ; but the way was rugged 
enough to exhaust the Prince, worn out with previous 
fatigues, to such an extent, that he dropped asleep while 
Burke was taking off his " spatter-dashes." They had 
been hastily converted into a purse, and as the buttons 
were loosed, out rolled the shining guineas on the floor. 
The Prince's store amounted to seven : it was well none 
of them were lost. The roads presently became too bad 
for horses ; and then the harassed little party had to 
tramp along, weary miles, taking up their night's lodging 
in a sort of cattle-shed. Another day of this kind of work, 
toiling over the dreary mountains, brought them still 
nearer the coast, to a hamlet not far from the place where 
he had first landed with his " seven men." 

Others of his friends made their way to him here, 
bringing disheartening news, that the English cruisers 
were so swarming in the neighbourhood as to put an end 
to his hopes of getting to France from that part of the 
coast, as was first intended. So here he was set fast for 
a while. 

But, before we follow his further adventures, we must 



I 




IlIGHLANDEES KECEIYING TUB PIUNCE'S FAKEWELL MESSAGE. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 225 

turn for a moment to those of his adherents. It has been 
mentioned that after the battle of Culloden, the greater 
part of the army had made its way to Ruthven, in Bade- 
noch, where, arriving in scattered parties, they at last 
amounted to several thousands. They were beaten, and 
soundly too — there was no doubt about that ; but they 
were not disheartened ; nay, they had the strongest pos- 
sible inclination to avenge the dishonour which they had 
sustained. They were also joined here by some of the 
dispersed clans, who had not been in time for the battle ; 
and eager to be led once more against an enemy that they 
had thrice seen fly before them, they waited with impa- 
tience either for the presence of their prince, whom we 
have left wandering in an opposite direction, or some 
word of encouragement from him. They got neither the 
one nor the other. So Lord George Murray, having set 
guards on the various passes through which their refuge 
amid the mountains might have been reached by the Eng- 
lish, sent an aide-de-camp to seek out Charles, acquaint 
him with the numbers and zeal of those who were awaiting 
him, and bring back some intimation of his pleasure con- 
cerning them. The return of the messenger — who was 
absent for a day or two — was anxiously looked for. He 
came, and the message of which he was the bearer at once 
dashed down all their hopes. Acknowledging their fidel- 
ity, Charles told them painly that nothing more could be 
done, unless he should succeed in engaging the French on 
10* 



226 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

his behalf, and that for this purpose he was about sailing 
for France so soon as he could procure a vessel. Mean- 
while, each one must seek his own safety, and do the best 
he could for himself. And so he bade them farewell. 

Great was the consternation of the chiefs, loud and 
wild the howlings and lamentations of the common High- 
landers, when this " heart-breaking " message was deliv- 
ered. But neither the manly grief of the leaders, nor the 
untutored sorrow of the shaggiest Highland lad among 
them, was of any avail. There was nothing for them but 
to take the Prince's advice, and each try to save himself. 
It Avas quite time ; for the Duke, having formed his camp 
at Inverness, lost not a moment in setting about what he 
thought the best way of trampling out the remains of the 
rebellion. As he began on the fatal moor of Culloden, so 
he went on. For the next two or three months the High- 
lands were overrun by his soldiery, who, with his sanc- 
tion, committed the extremest cruelties on the unfortunate 
inhabitants, involving innocent and guilty alike in one 
common doom of suffering and death. The country was 
laid waste. Not only did his vengeance fall on the higher 
classes, whose houses were plundered and burned, but on 
those in humble life also, whose poor huts were burned 
over their heads, their cattle driven away, and many of 
themselves dragged out to be shot, or hanged, as was most 
convenient. 

One party of the Duke's troopers who were ravaging 



n 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 227 

pleasant Nithsdale, halted at a lonely cottage, where a 
poor widow and her children lived. Being hungry and 
tired, they ordered her to find them something to eat. 
Her son, a lad of sixteen, got them " kale " — that is, cab- 
bage, or greens — and butter ; while the good woman her- 
self brought them all the milk that she had. When they 
had eaten and drunken to their hearts' content, one of the 
men, with pretended kindliness, asked the woman what 
she had to live upon. " Indeed," she replied, " the cow 
and the kale yard" (her little garden), "with God's bless- 
ing, are all I have." Without saying a word he rose and 
went out, killed the cow with his sword, and destroyed all 
the kale. Then they rode off, leaving the weeping woman 
utterly destitute ; and she soon died heart-broken. 

Some years subsequently, after a great victory gained 
on the continent by British arms, the soldiers were carous- 
ing, and recounting their various exploits in time past. 
A dragoon boasted that he once killed a Scotch witch in 
Nithsdale ; he had killed her cow, and destroyed all her 
greens ; but, added he, with a sneer, " For all that, she 
could live on her God," as she said. Up started a 
young soldier from the group, crying out, " And don't you 
rue it — don't you rue it 1 " " Eue what 1 " was the brutal 
reply ; " rue a thing like that ! " " That woman was my 
mother," was the young man's answer ; as, drawing his 
sword, he bade the dragoon defend himself. They fought 
desperately, and the widow's son ran the dragoon through 



228 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

and through ; exclaiming, as he turned him over in his 
death- throes, " Had you but rued it, God alone should 
have punished you." 

In some instances, during the victors' terrrible revenge, 
women and children were stripped of their clothing, and 
then driven forth among those wild hills to die of cold 
and hunger ; while others, in the extremity of their famine, 
ventured to follow the departing soldiery, for the chance 
of those wretches being charitable enough to bestow the 
blood and offal of the stolen cattle, which they killed for 
their own use, on the miserable owners of them. The 
desolation which this bad Duke effected in that portion of 
the country subjected to military execution, is simply in- 
expressible. In the course of a few short days, " there 
was neither house, cottage, man, nor beast to be seen 
within a compass of fifty miles." While his own savage 
nature, not content with the ruin inflicted by his crea- 
tures upon these unhappy people, urged upon the English 
government still severer measures ; protesting that all 
the " good " — that is, all this barbarity — that he had done 
was only a little " blood-letting," that had by no means 
cured the evil for which it had been practised. It was in 
vain that the Lord President Forbes, an upright, honour- 
able man, and faithful supporter of the English govern- 
ment, sought to curb the merciless Duke, by reminding 
him that in these military executions he was exceeding 
the powers conferred upon him by the law. " The law ! " 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER 229 

was the answer, with an oath ; " I will make a brigade give 
laws ! " And he called my Lord President an " old 
woman," for his pains. 

Escape from the Duke and his executioners was al- 
most impossible, as he had taken care to post troops, 
horse and foot, around that part of the country where 
these dismal transactions were going on. Many of the 
chiefs and leading men in the insurrection thus fell into 
the Duke's hands. Among the most notable of these 
were Lord Balmerino, Tullibardine, Murray of Broughton 
(the Prince's secretary), and Lord Lovat. Balmerino 
surrendered to the laird of Grant, and was finally shipped 
for England from Inverness, with Lords Kilmarnock and 
Cromarty, previously taken ; the last being the only one 
of the party whose life was spared. Balmerino and Kil- 
marnock were both beheaded, the former to the very last 
glorying in the cause for which he suffered. The dints of 
the axe in the block upon which their poor heads were 
stricken off, may be seen to this day. Tullibardine was 
given up by a friend, from whom he had sought shelter ; 
and afterwards died a prisoner in the Tower of London. 
He was buried in the little church there, so atfectingly 
dedicated to St. Peter in bonds ! Murray turned what is 
called king's evidence ; that is, he saved his own life by 
betraying his friends, and was justly looked upon with 
contempt ever afterwards, both by Jacobites and Han- 
overians. One of the latter threw a teacup, from which 



230 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

Murray had just drunk, out of the window, scorning that 
either himself or any of his family should ever use what 
had touched the lip of the traitor. A man may pay too 
high a price for his life. Lovat, having had his castle 
burned, was driven to the hills for shelter. For some 
days the wretched old man lived on oatmeal and water, 
and was at last dragged from his hiding-place, where he 
was found wrapped in a blanket in the hollow trunk of a 
tree. No one pitied him when his dishonoured head was 
laid upon the block. Had it been laid there years before, 
it would but have been the meet reward of his odious 
crimes. Lord George Murray, Perth, and some others, 
eluded the vigilance of their pursuers, and got safely out 
of the country ; Perth dying on shipboard from the effects 
of exhaustion and a gunshot wound, inflicted by a parting 
volley from some English vessels that had chased the 
French man-of-war in which he escaped. 

Of course, in sending out detachments of military to 
scour the country, one great object with the Duke was 
the capture of the Prince ; and the order given to these, 
in a way that could not be mistaken, was, " Make no 
prisoners ! " If they succeeded in seizing Charles, his life 
was to be instantly sacrificed. This was an outrageous 
thing ; but it was only one of many of a like character to 
be laid to the charge of the royal commander-in-chief, 
whose commands were executed with cruel alacrity and 
energy by such men as Hawleyj Lockhart, and Captain 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 231 

Scott. Indeed, in justice to the Duke, it must be said 
that these officers sometimes exceeded his orders. One 
of them, in particular, would not condescend to regard 
even the protections granted by his superior to some who 
had made their peace with government; coolly telling 
these unfortunate people, when they were led out to be 
shot, and their houses were burnt, that a protection from 
heaven itself should not save them. 

The Duke's rigorous measures fell heavily, not only 
upon the unhappy Jacobites, against whom they were 
directed, but also upon those loyal Highland gentlemen 
who were serving in the army, and who found themselves 
compelled to the odious duty of burning, plundering, and 
destroying their friends and neighbours. One gentleman, a 
Captain Menzies, was thus sent with his company to burn 
the house of a friend of his, and carry off prisoners certain 
of the rebels whom he would find there, all of whom were 
connected with him either by friendship or blood. This 
was a terrible duty, but military men must obey. The 
troop, however, was seen approaching, and the intended 
captives all made their escape. Captain Menzies' father, 
meeting one of the baffled soldiers, eagerly inquired what 
had been the result of the expedition ; and hearing that 
no prisoners had been taken, pulled off his bonnet to give 
thanks to God for having spared his unfortunate son the 
misery of bringing his friends to the scaffold. 

Charles himself was not taken, though hunted as dili- 



232 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

gently as was King David, " like a partridge upon the 
mountains ; " the zeal of his pursuers being inflamed by 
that thirty thousand pounds, which was to be the prize of 
him who should bring in the Prince, dead or alive. 

Finding that all hopes of getting away from the main- 
land by a French vessel were at an end, the next plan that 
presented itself to the few faithful followers who were with 
Charles at Glenbiasdale, near Kinloch-Moidart, was to 
send him over to the Hebrides, if a boat could be procur- 
ed, and let him skulk about there till the Frenchmen 
could take him off. It was thought the English watch 
would be less strictly kept on the out-of-the-way, desolate 
shores of that group of islands. Fortunately for this plan, 
which was the best that could be adopted, an old Skye 
Highlander was found, not only well able to steer his 
little boat through the intricate navigation of those seas, 
but worthy to be trusted with the safety of his prince. 
His fidelity had just been proved by his having assisted 
in bringing from one of the Western Isles, where it had 
been landed, a large amount of French gold. Donald 
Macleod, who was then at Kinloch-Moidart, the place 
where Charles first set foot on the Scottish mainland, was 
accordingly sent for to Borrodaile, that the Prince might 
see him. He came, and, on approaching the place, was 
accosted by a tall, well-made young man, who was alone 
in the wood, and who asked him if he were Donald Mac- 
leod, of Skye. " The same — at your service," was the 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 233 

reply. " What does your Eoyal Highnessr want with 
me 1 " " Donald," said the Prince (for it was he), " I 
hear you are an honest man, who may be trusted. You 
see I am in distress, and I throw myself entirely upon 
you." A brief conversation, which the old man after- 
wards related to a friendly listener, with tears running 
down his face the while ; for " who," said he, " could help 
greeting " (weeping) " when talking of so sad a thing 1 " 

The first command which the Prince laid upon his 
new ally, honest Donald positively refused to obey. He 
had Charles's real good too much at heart to stand upon 
ceremony with him, or engage to do what might be in- 
jurious to his safety, even though the Prince himself re- 
quired it of him. In this instance what Charles wished to 
have done was, that Donald should carry letters from him 
to Sir Alexander Macdonald, and the chief of the Macleods. 
Now, these two gentlemen, after much fussing about their 
loyalty to King James, had gone quietly and made friends 
with King George. " These men have played the rogue 
once already," was Donald's plain-spoken objection ; 
" would you trust them again ? " adding, that it was also 
said that the two chiefs were at that moment hunting for 
him, at the head of their men, within a dozen miles, for 
the purpose of delivering him up to the English com- 
mander. Between what was known of Macdonald and 
Macleod, and what was suspected of them, it was clear 
that Donald was right in declining to have anything to 



234 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

do with them on the Prince's behalf. Danger to himself 
he did not mind ; but Charles must be protected at all 
risks. Tailing in this plan, the next thing that the Prince 
desired was, that his new friend should help him to leave 
the mainland with all speed, and get to one of the shelter- 
ing islands that lay to the west. Here Donald could do 
as he was bidden ; and he was not long in finding a boat 
large enough to hold the little company. In addition to 
the Prince, there were three gentlemen — Allan Macdon- 
ald, O'Sullivan, and O'Neal. Donald was to steer, and 
there were eight men, including the guide, Ned Burke, at 
the oars. 

They tumbled in pretty quickly, took their places, old 
Donald at the helm, with Charles between his knees, 
doubtless with a loving idea of protecting him even from 
the spray of those rough waters ; the men bent to their 
oars ; and the little craft shot out of the bay, spite of a 
threatening storm, which made the helmsman wishful to 
defer their voyage till next day. * He knew something of 
those latitudes, and their fitful character. The black 
clouds, already racing overhead, to him spoke as plainly 
of what the sailors call " great guns " as any barometer 
could do ; and he would fain have kept his Prince out of 
their range. Charles, however, insisted on putting out 
to sea immediately : better trust to winds and waves in 
their worst moods than to false friends ; and to sea they 
put accordingly. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 235 

Old Donald was right. They had not gone far when 
one of the most violent storms that had ever been en- 
countered in that turbulent neighbourhood came down 
upon them. The wind was a perfect hurricane ; the 
heaving deep threatened to swallow them up ; and for the 
rain, why that poured upon them as though it had never 
rained before, and should never have an opportunity of 
doing it again. Thunder rolled around in a continuous 
peal, while the thick darkness of the night was only re- 
lieved by blinding flashes of lightning. Labouring at the 
oars, and baling the water out of their boat, lest it should 
go down bodily, their danger soon became so apparent 
that even the Prince himself urged that they should re- 
turn to land, and take their chance there. Donald, how- 
ever, was master at sea, if the Prince was upon dry land, 
and he would not turn back. It was of no use, he said, 
attempting it ; they could not get back if they would ; 
adding, that they " might as well be drowned in clear 
water, as dashed to piece's on the rocks, and drowned into 
the bargain." There was no gainsaying this, and onward 
they urged their weary oars, the storm raging with its 
utmost fury during eight long hours. Poor Charles had 
much ado to keep up the heart of his exhausted and ap- 
prehensive crew during this time. He exerted himself in 
various ways to do so. He told them how he cheered his 
own heart, by trusting in the goodness of God to bring 
them all safe to land ; and then, by way of diverting their 



236 PKINCE CHAKLIE, 

thoughts, he sang them a Highland song. At last the 
tempest spent itself; it became a little calmer ; and they 
managed to make land at the nearest point of the island 
of Benbecula, one of that group of the Hebrides known 
as the Long Island. 

Having hauled their boat ashore — it was well its 
worst damage was a broken bowsprit — they took shelter 
in an empty hut, and kindled a fire to dry their water- 
sopped clothing. Something to eat was the next neces- 
sity after their long toil ; and, as small cattle were stray- 
ing near the shore, they took the liberty of catching one 
of the beasts, and killing it. They had fortunately carried 
an iron pot with them, and in this the meat was boiled, 
along with some oatmeal, which was the only thing in 
the shape of food that they had been able to provide. 
An old sail spread upon the earthen floor served for the 
Prince's bed ; and thus accommodated with food and 
lodging, he spent two days and nights, the violence of the 
gale not permitting them to leave the island during that 
time. Charles took these wretched doings calmly — nay, 
pleasantly. Had he chosen to make a trouble of them, 
no one could have been surprised ; but he would have 
found them much harder to bear. 

On the third day after their landing at this miserable 
place, the storm had so far abated as to admit of their 
putting to sea again. Dragging their boat down to the 
water, th^y were soon afloat, and betook themselves 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 237 

stoutly to their oars with the hope of reaching Storno- 
way, a port on the eastern coast of Lewis, the most north- 
erly of the islands, where the Prince thought he might 
possibly fall in with a French vessel. Winds and waves 
were, however, once more against them in those stormy 
latitudes ; and, instead of accomplishing the long and 
tedious sail which they had planned, they drifted to the 
island of Scalpa, about midway between the two islands. 
Again it was of no use to grumble, there was no help for 
it ; and ashore they scrambled in the dusk of early morn- 
ing. The island of Scalpa belonged to the chief of the 
Macleods, who was now no friend to the Prince ; so, for 
fear of hostile discovery, they pretended they were traders 
to the Orkneys, who had been shipwrecked on their 
voyage thither. O'Sullivan was called father, and Charles 
passed as his son. They were kindly received here by 
Donald Campbell, the iaird's tenant in the island, who 
sent off the old pilot, in his own boat, to Stornoway, to 
see if he could there meet with one better suited for the 
Prince's use. Four anxious days were passed during 
Donald's absence, who, at the end of that time, managed 
to send word that he had got a boat. Charles instantly 
set sail for Stornoway on receiving this good news, but 
could make little way against a stormy head-wind. After 
tugging and labouring at the oar till they were worn out, 
they were obliged to run in on the coast of Lewis, twenty 
miles from the point where Donald was waitmg for them. 



238 PRINCE CHARLIE, 



The rest of the journey had to be performed on foot over 
a trackless moor, and in drenching rain ; while their 
ignorance of the way kept them wandering up and down 
in the storm, till they were nearly twice as long on the 
road as they should have been. 

They did not venture to go right up to the town, but 
halted at a little distance from it, where that good Don- 
ald brought them some bread and cheese and brandy, on 
which they made a hearty meal. If Donald could have 
brought them some shirts as well, it would have been a 
capital thing ; for the three gentlemen of the party had 
only six among them, and often when they took off their 
wet ones, drenched with rain and spray, they found those 
that they had to put on in precisely the same condition. 
Such luxuries were not to be had yet awhile. Donald, 
however, was fortunate enough to provide them shelter 
in the house of a Mrs. Mackenzie; where, while the Prince 
was sleeping oiF his fatigue, their guide got into some 
trouble at Stornoway, through a tipsy fellow of his crew, 
who let out for whom the boat was wanted. 

A pretty fuss all Stornoway was thrown into by this 
piece of news. Had the man (who deserved a rope's end 
for his pains) announced that the French were just about 
landing on their coast, the population could not have been 
in a greater commotion. Eusty dirks and broadswords, 
with all sorts of fire-arms, were to be seen in every direc- 
tion ; for, as things lose nothing by repetition, it was 



n 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 239 

soon blazed about that the Prirfce was coming upon them 
at the head of five hundred men. What was to be done 
to quell the ferment ^ The swarming Hebrideans protest- 
ed they had no ill-will towards the Prince — they did not 
wish to hurt a hair of his head ; but they exceedingly 
desired that he would get out of their country with all 
convenient speed ; while, at the same time, they rather 
unreasonably refused to let Donald have the boat which 
he had hired from them for this very purpose. And as 
for piloting the fugitives from these bleak shores — no, not 
all the gold that Donald, in the liberality of his frightened 
soul, offered (and it was a considerable sum), would tempt 
any one of them to do such a thing. Go the Prince must ; 
but he should not have their boat, nor would they show 
him the way out. It was very unreasonable ; but, as has 
been said before, angry people, and we may add fright- 
ened ones, are apt to be unreasonable. 

Charles took it all as usual, quietly ; and, having 
packed up some oatmeal and brandy, together with the 
remains of a cow which they had had from Mrs. Macken- 
zie (she was hardly prevailed upon to receive payment 
for the animal), the little persecuted company embarked 
in a cockle-shell of a boat, with a couple of seamen, and 
set sail, they knew not whither. Their course was soon 
determined for them by the apparition of some men-of- 
war looming in the distance. For fear of these they put 
about, and, on the 6th of May, hastily landed on a small 



240 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

uninhabited island on life coast of Harris, a few miles 
from that inhospitable Stornoway. 

This island was occasionally visited by fishermen, 
some of whom were at this time plying their trade upon 
the beach. Seeing the little boat rowed on towards 
shore as strenuously as possible, they supposed a press- 
gang was after them, and fled in such terror that they left 
all their fish behind them on the strand where it was 
a-drying. This was a piece of good fortune for the Prince 
and his companions ; and that thoughtful Mrs. Macken- 
zie having put a lump of butter into Ned Burke's bundle, 
they had soon an excellent dish of fish hastily broiled, 
which, for want of knives and forks, they ate with their 
fingers, sitting upon the ground. A great earthen jug, 
too, had fortunately been left by the frightened fishermen, 
and in this they managed to boil some water ; so that 
for that night they comforted themselves, cold, wet, and 
weary as they were, with some hot brandy and water. 
Supper ended, they went to sleep on the floor of a 
wretched, tumble-down hut, leaving one to keep guard. 
Next night, as ill-luck would have it, the jug was broken ; 
and there was no more hot punch to be had. The second 
daughter of the King of France, to whom, in this desolate 
spot, Charles sometimes drank pleasantly, had, after this 
accident, to be toasted in cold drink, water or whiskey as 
it might be. 

They remained on this island four days, the Prince 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 24:1 

making himself very amiable with his companions in 
misfortune. Still, time hung heavy on his hands. Per- 
haps it was for amusement, or it might be with the in- 
tention of gratifying his humble friends, that he 
occasionally helped to dress their poor dinner, succeed- 
ing admirably, as all agreed, in his new duty as cook. 
Sometimes he would sing to cheer them ; and, for want 
of something better to do, he smoked a good deal. 
When they ventured out to sea again, they carried away 
with them two dozen of the dried fish they had found on 
the beach, Charles leaving some money by the remain- 
ing ones, in payment for those they had taken. His 
companions, however, compelled him, much against his 
will, to resume it, urging that it was not likely to come 
to the hands of the owners of the fish ; and that in any 
case, and by whomsoever found, it might lead to his 
discovery. This last argument prevailed. 

As they rowed along the shore, Charles insisted 
upon touching again at Scalpa, for the purpose of paying 
Donald Campbell for the use of his boat. Poor 
Campbell, however, had been obliged to fly from his 
home, through its having got abroad that he had suc- 
coured the hapless prince; so that once more Charles 
had to be content to receive a favour, without making 
any further return for it. They got into a little difficulty 
here with some rough fellows, who had a mind to take 
their boat from them ; so that they were glad to push 
11 



^42 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

off from land again hastily, to get rid of such dangerous 
company. Thus far, in their series of short voyages 
among these islands, they had had more wind than they 
wanted ; now it fell so completely that, not having a 
single puff to speed them on the way, they were 
obliged to row hard all night, though spent with hunger. 
Throughout the whole of the next day they had nothing 
to eat but a vile mixture of oatmeal and salt water. 
Fortunately they had a little brandy left, and that 
served to keep down the abominable mess. Yet Charles, 
who was always disposed to make the best of things, 
and through thick and thin philosophically to " keep 
never minding," declared this horrid stuff was not bad 
food ; and, in proof of the sincerity of his opinion, con- 
trived to swallow a very respectable portion of it ; 
observing, as he did so, that if he ever came to the 
throne he would not forget those who had that day 
" dined with him." He never grumbled at the poorness 
of his fare, and, whatever befell him, was cheerful 
and contented. His was a spirit worth imitating. You 
schoolboy, who have not quite so much butter upon your 
bread as you think you should like, and have failed to 
secure for yourself the very warmest seat by the fireside, 
take a leaf out of Prince Charles's book. 

He had variety of wretchedness. There was danger 
to life, as well as hard living and sleeping. The next 
thing was that they were chased by an English man-of- 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIER. 243 

war. It was " row, brothers, row," with a vengeance 
then. Every muscle was strained, till the sweat ran 
down their faces as they tugged away with all their 
might at the flashing oars. The boat sprang quivering 
through the water with the vehement impulse; but 
naught would have availed them — somebody would have 
had that wicked thirty thousand pounds for "the 
Pretender, dead or alive" — had not the wind, which had 
sprung up at dawn, just then dropped, leaving the great, 
hulking man-of-war floating helplessly on the quiet tide. 
Now was their time for escape ; and, steering cautiously 
among the rocks that stand like grim sentinels on the 
coast of the island of Harris, they hid themselves there 
for a while. They fancied they were safe now ; so safe 
that presently they ventured out, and were creeping 
along the coast, when they were seen, and chased again 
by another ship. Hard rowing, however, got them out 
of this difficulty the Prince protesting he would be sunk 
sooner than be taken. The calm, which baffled their 
huge pursuers, was in their favour, and finally they came 
to land once more in Benbecula. 

O what weary work was this, rowing backwards and 
forwards, and never getting any nearer to their point — 
the place and means of escape ! 

Just as they got ashore one of the crew found a crab 
among the rocky hollows. Charles, hearing of the cap- 
ture, set off to the spot in high glee, and fell to serious 



24:4 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

crab-catching, with such success that he soon filled a 
bucket which they had with them. This he carried in 
triumph himself to a miserable hut a couple of miles in- 
land, of which they took possession for their temporary 
home, on the 11th of May. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 24:5 



CHAPTER XIY. 

In Benbecula the Prince found a few days' rest, such as 
it was. His accommodations there were wretched 
enough, but his brave spirit did not much care about 
such things for himself; what most distressed him — nay, 
went to his very heart — was that so many of his friends 
were suffering for his sake. His was anything but a 
selfish character. Selfish people make much of their own 
annoyances, and think lightly of those of their neighbours. 
Charles's greatest concern was for others. Such a man 
deserved to find the friendship and fidelity which were 
signally sho-svn him, when among the hundreds — 
many of them very poor, and in a low rank — to whom 
his places of concealment were well known, not one was 
ever found to betray him, though that thirty thousand 
pounds would have been the price for their doing so. 

The entrance to the hut, or " bothy," where they took 
up their abode, was so low that the men scooped out 
some of the earth beneath it, in order to let the Prince's 
tall figure enter rather more easily. As it was, he had 
to go in on his hands and knees, some heather being 



246 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

placed to prevent his knees coming in too rough contact 
with the earth and stones of the floor. From this royal 
residence Charles dispatched old Macleod to seek out 
Cameron of Lochiel, and his secretary Murray, who he 
thought might have some money for him. Some, indeed, 
had arrived from France, but the greater part of it had 
been buried in the ground, to prevent its falling into the 
hands of the enemy ; and Cameron and Murray, like the 
Prince, flying for their lives, could not get at it. So all 
the comfort Donald brought back with him was this 
news, and some brandy. 

Poor prince ! So often wet, cold, and hungry, no 
wonder that at times he was glad to have a glass of 
brandy ; and began to like it better than some of his 
friends thought quite good for him. 

There were other things, though, that he got here 
more innocent than the brandy, and equally comfortable. 
Some shirts were sent him — actually six of them — 
together with shoes and stockings, so that his wardrobe 
was now on a scale of magnificence even more than 
equal to that of his palace. He was indebted to one of 
the Macdonald chiefs for these good things. Receiving 
a message from the Prince, he at once hastened to him, 
bringing with him these articles of clothing, as well as 
some wine, and other supplies calculated to render 
Charles's comfortless abode a little more bearable. He 
did not, however, think the. Prince safe enough here; so 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 24:7 

a removal to the island of South Uist was decided upon, 
where Charles contrived to establish himself in rather 
better quarters. It was, as before, in a miserable High- 
land hut, though not quite so bad as the one he had just 
left. He had here, too, something like a bed — not 
exactly a four-poster, but still luxurious compared with 
what he had had before. A cow-hide, stretched on a 
rude frame, made really a very decent sort of camp 
bed for a man used to " roughing " it, like our unfor- 
tunate prince ; who, in the course of his wanderings, had, 
[in the words of the old song J too often to wrap him 

" In a Highland plaid, 
That cover'd him but sparely," 

and to make his bed " beneath the birken tree." 

The Prince spent a whole month in South Uist, in 
less miserable plight altogether than he had been in 
since Culloden. He was enlivened here by the visits of 
some of his friends, while his safety was cared for by a 
dozen stout Macdonalds, left by their chief, Clanranald, 
to watch over him. Game was abundant in the island, 
so that there was no fear of the old starvation allowance 
of oatmeal and water. Charles being a good shot — he 
could bring down his bird on the wing — provided his 
dinner, and beguiled the weary hours at the same time. 
One day he brought home a deer as the result of his 
day's sport ; and when he and his brother-cook, Burke, 



248 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

were busy dressing a portion of it, a poor half starved 
lad pushed in among them, and tried to snatch some of 
the meat, for which Burke gave him a good cuff. " Stay, 
stay, man," said the kind-hearted Prince; "you forget 
that the Scripture commands us to feed the hungry, and 
clothe the naked. You had better give the boy meat 
than blows." And with that he ordered, from his own 
scanty stores, both food and clothes for the lad ; remark- 
ing that he could not bear to see a Christian perishing 
for want when he had any thing to give him. Would 
any one believe it 1 This very lad, after being well fed 
and warmed, went his way, found out a strong party of 
the government Highlanders, who were hunting the 
Prince, told them where he was, and offered to lead them 
to his hiding place. Fortunately, however, they thought 
his story much too absurd to be believed, and only 
laughed at him. Served him right ! A little wretch 
to turn in this way upon his benefactor ! It was the 
old fable of the " viper " over again. 

But though the Prince escaped this danger, there were 
others afloat, that speedily routed him out of these com- 
paratively comfortable quarters. The soldiers, as has 
been said, had long been after him in all directions, with 
the Duke's words, " Remember, no prisoners," tingling in 
their ears ; and now word was brought him that a large 
body of troops had just landed on a small island, close to, 
with the intention of making a thorough search for him 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 249 

throughout the Long Island. This alarming intelligence 
was sent him by Lady Margaret Macdonald, wife of the 
Sir Alexander who, with Macleod, was after his old 
master, bent upon capturing him. Lady Margaret, how- 
ever, spoiled their sport on this occasion. The gentle- 
man, one of the clan, whom she sent to Charles, found 
him in his hut, dirty enough, poor fellow ! — hands, face, 
shirt, and cap being all smirched with soot ; as how could 
they be otherwise in a Highland hut without a chimney ? 
He wore his usual Highland dress — philibeg, short hose 
and brogues. The visitor was received with hearty kind- 
ness, and Charles showed him such hospitality as his means 
permitted. Sitting down to table — ^we must give that name 
to a chest £hat did duty for it — a glass of brandy was first 
called for ; following, in this respect, the country fashion, 
which was always to make a " dram " the beginning of a 
meal. Then a leg of beef was placed before them, with a 
large lump of butter on a wooden platter ; the whole being 
sufficiently sooty with the droppings from the roof. That 
was a dinner for a prince — when he could not get a 
better. 

Just as they had finished, in came Old Clanranald's 
brother, Boisdale, who was a welcome guest to the Prince, 
though he confirmed the bad news Macdonald had just 
brought him. After a short conversation about these 
matters, Charles insisted on their staying with him that 
night, as it was not often he had such friends- about him, 
11* 



250 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

and he had a mind to enjoy himself for once. Such an 
invitation could not be declined, had they wished it ; and 
so they agreed to stay, and make a night of it. They must 
have been on free-and-easy terms with the Prince ; for, 
when Charles ordered Burke to make a bowl of punch, 
Boisdale pleasantly told him he must be shaved first, and 
put on a clean shirt. The good-humoured Prince accord- 
ingly did as he was bidden ; and, having made himself 
tmart for the occasion, down they all sat round the chest, 
and drank more punch than would be considered at all 
decorous in these days. In fact, they stuck to it for three 
days and nights ; and his visitors, as was the way in those 
times, apparently thought all the more highly of their 
prince when they found that he had a stronger head than 
they. Strange that people should ever be proud of being 
able to drink a great deal ; but so it was once. A man 
might as well be proud of being able to eat a whole leg of 
mutton, instead of only a slice out of it. 

The merriment, however, came to an end ; and the 
serious business of finding some place where the Prince 
might lay his head, was the next thing to be attended to. 
Before he set out, he knew not whither — only that he must 
leave his present refuge — Charles wrote a letter of thanks 
to Lady Margaret, who had not only sent him the timely 
warning, but had accompanied it by a welcome present of 
clothing, and twenty guineas. He begged that his letter 
might be burned as soon as read ; but to the lady's loyal 



THE YOriSTG CHEVALIER. 251 

heart the Prince's handwriting was far too valuable to be 
lightly sacrificed. Reverentially kissing the precious docu- 
ment, she stowed it away in a secure closet ; whence, how- 
ever, it was soon dragged out in a fright, and flung into the 
fire, to save it from the King's troops, who thought proper 
to pay the lady a visit. 

Charles's troubles were now thickening around him. 
On the 14th of June he was once more afloat ; and the 
next few days were spent in sailing among those dreary 
islands, flying from one danger to another. He was 
known to be somewhere about the Long Island, and the 
pursuit was hot after him. The militia, in their boats, 
were pulling about here and there, seeking him ; and get- 
ting out of their way threw him in that of a man-of-war, 
aboard of which was Captain Scott, one of the most savage 
of the Duke's ofiicers, expressly charged with conducting 
the search for Charles. The Prince's condition was, in- 
deed, deplorable. Now scantily sheltered by a poor shep- 
herd, who chanced to be grazing his cattle on the little 
island of Wia, east of the deeply indented shores of Benbe- 
cula ; then sleeping in a crevice of the rock, or, without 
even that miserable shelter, in the open air, with the boat- 
sails for a covering. Macdonald of Boisdale, to whose 
home in South Uist they had fled, hoping for assistance, 
they found had just been taken prisoner ; so there was no 
more help to be had from this firm friend. They dared 
not go near his house, for fear of discovery ; but his wife 



252 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

sent them such refreshment as she could procure, to their 
place of concealment in the neighbourhood. Taking to 
their boat again, they went a little higher up Loch Bois- 
dale, but were soon driven away by hearing that Captain 
Scott and his troops had actually landed on the island, 
and were not far from them. The last piece of news com- 
pelled the distressed little company to separate, that each 
one might the better care for his own safety; O'Neal 
alone remaining with the Prince. It was a sad partmg, 
that made Donald Macleod weep when speaking of it in 
after years. The old man received, for his services, an 
order on one of the Prince's officers, for the payment to 
him of sixty pistoles. Charles's supplies coming chielfly 
from abroad, were, of course in foreign coin. The pistole 
IS one used in Spain and Italy ; and, according to its pres- 
ent value, this sum would amount to about forty-five 
pounds. Donald never got it, however; for, amid the 
confusion and distress of the times, the officer could not 
be found. The crew had each a shilling a day for the 
time they had been with the Prince. That good fellow, 
Ned Burke, would fain have gone with his royal master, 
but it could not be permitted; and the poor man re- 
mained on the island of North Uist, living for seven weeks 
on shell-fish, which he found on the shore, till some poor 
cobbler's wife took pity on him, and supplied him with 
food by night in a cave among the rocks where he had 
taken shelter. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 25S 

Charles's attached friends had been anxiously caring 
for him during this time of harassing and urgent danger ; 
and at length they had devised a scheme by which it was 
thought he might be got out of the way of his enemies, 
who were now swarming about him in every direction. 
A young lady named Flora Macdonald, step-daughter of 
a gentleman living in the Isle of Skye, had been prevailed 
upon by O'Neal to lend her help for the purpose ; and the 
plan arranged was that Charles, disguised as a woman, 
should accompany her home to that island, passing him- 
self off as her servant. As Flora's father was an officer 
in the militia, it was thought that it would be no difficult 
matter to get from him a written permission, which was 
necessary at the time, for his daughter and her maid to 
proceed to her own mother's house ; and thus armed, they 
might travel in safety, spite of the various military sta- 
tions, where a sharp look-out was kept for the Prince. 

In pursuance of this scheme, the Prince and O'Neal, 
when they parted from their companions, having concealed 
themselves till it was dark, set off on foot to the place 
where it had been arranged they should meet Flora, and 
finally settle their proceedings. Poor Flora, however, on 
returning from this meeting, accompanied by her genuine 
maid-servant, was stopped by the militia on account of her 
having no pass. For so strict was the watch kept for 
Charles, that no one was permitted to go from one place 
to another in the islands, where he was known to be, 



254 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

without a passport. Here was an awkward situation for 
a young lady to be in ; but she had presence of mind to 
ask for the commanding officer. On being told he would 
not be there till the next day, she inquired who command- 
ed ; and most fortunately for her design, it turned out 
that her own step-father was in charge of the party. She 
spent that night in the guard-house ; and when Captain 
Macdonald arrived next morning he was not a little sur- 
prised to find that the only prisoner made by his watchful 
guard was his own daughter. Whether it was that he 
really took for granted that all was right, or that he was 
not unwilling to assist in the escape of the unfortunate 
prince, is not known ; but he was easily prevailed upon 
to give Flora a pass to the Isle of Skye for herself, a man- 
servant, and a woman called Betty Burke : this was the 
disguised Prince. He also wrote a letter to his wife, say- 
ing that he had sent Flora home that she might be out of 
the way of the troops who were stationed all about there ; 
adding, that she had an Irishwoman with her, whom he 
had sent because, as Flora told him, she was particularly 
clever at her spinning-wheel, either with flax or wool ; and 
he knew his wife wanted such a servant. For in those 
days, and in country places, both linen and woollen were 
spun at home. 

This was a capital ending to what looked like the ruin 
of Flora's scheme ; and well pleased with her morning's 
work, she hastened away to procure a suitable dress for 



THE YOTJNO CHEVALIER. 255 

"Betty Burke," and make other preparations for her 
journey. 

Poor Charles, in his wretched hiding-place among the 
rocks, was anxiously awaiting the result of Flora's exer- 
tions on his behalf; and, as soon as she was free, the faith- 
ful O'Neal hastened to tell him of her success in the matter 
of the passport, and to guide him to the appointed place 
of meeting. It was with much ado that they contrived to 
get a little fishing-boat, which carried them across the 
strait that divides South Uist from Benbecula, landing them 
on the rocky shore of the latter island. It w^as a long 
dreary way to the spot where Flora and they were to 
meet ; and faint from want of food — Charles had had none 
since the evening before — they toiled wearily along, amid 
bitter wind and rain. About noon they were fortunate 
enough to come upon a mere hovel, whose inhabitants 
kindly gave them a share of such poor viands as they had 
for themselves. Kefreshed with these, and a brief rest, 
they resumed their journey with more vigour ; and late 
in the afternoon came as near as they dared, while daylight 
lasted, to the place of meeting. Here, wet and shivering, 
they lay down among the heather till it was dark enough 
to go on safely, when they again betook themselves to 
their moorland path ; the poor Prince slipping, sliding, 
and even losing his shoes in the bog, which was sometimes 
so deep as to give O'Neal no little trouble in fishing them 
up for him. They halted a short distance from the hut 



256 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

where Flora was to join them ; and Neil Macdonald, or 
Mackechan, a gentleman who was to attend Flora as the 
servant described in the passport, crept cautiously towards 
i^, to ascertain whether their approach would be safe. 
Could anything have been more unfortunate 1 A party of 
militia had, a day or two before, landed in the neighbour- 
hood, and pitched their tents not far from this very hut, 
to which they came each morning for milk. Back he 
crept as cautiously as he had come ; and though, spite of 
these military visitations, Charles's forlorn condition com- 
pelled him to venture into the hut for a few hours' shelter 
in the middle of the night, he was obliged to leave it be- 
fore dawn, and skulk among the rocks till it was safe to 
return. His state, lying concealed among these rocks, 
was most pitiable, as they were quite insufficient to screen 
him from the rain, which poured down "as if all the 
windows of heaven had broken open," and lodged in the 
folds of his plaid ; while all the help that Mackechan could 
give him, was to raise the plaid from time to time, so as 
to let the accumulated w^ater run off. To this was added 
the minor misery of being nearly stung to death by the 
midges. The girl who milked the flocks was his good friend 
on this trying occasion, keeping a sharp look-out for those 
militiamen, lest they should steal unawares upon the 
Prince, and smuggling him a little milk when she could 
contrive it. At last the soldiers took themselves off; and 
then, first kindling a roasting fire for Charles to dry and 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 257 

warm himself at, she ran to the rocks to bring him in 
triumph to the hut. 

He was so wet that his faithful attendant stripped him 
of his clothes, leaving him to sit by the fireside in his 
shirt, while they were dried on ropes hung round the walls. 
Something to eat was the next need : there was only a 
little milk to be had, and this being made hot, the Prince 
and Neil sat down to it with a couple of clumsy horn 
spoons. By way of improving the mess, the dairy woman 
had frothed it up well with a little wooden instrument 
made for the purpose, which caused it to look like good thick 
cream. Deceived by its solid appearance, Charles applied 
the spoon to it with so much more force than it really 
needed, that, souse went his hand into it at the first dip ; 
scalding him so, that he dropped the spoon into the pan, 
in which, for lack of a dish, the milk had been served up. 
In a pet at this little provoking accident, he vented his 
anger in scolding the good woman, at a pretty rate ; vow- 
ing she must have done it on purpose to make them burn 
themselves ! Neil managed to keep his gravity through 
this droll little outbreak of temper ; and finally the milk 
was finished in peace. A bed was afterwards contrived 
for the Prince, by taking the door off its hinges, and 
placing it on the floor ; where, with an old tattered boat- 
sail by way of mattress, he lay down, wrapped in his still 
wet plaid, and slept soundly for a few hours. 

The long-expected Flora arrived at last, accompanied 



258 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

by her friend, the wife of Clanranald, and some men-ser- 
vants. They found the Prince preparing his own dinner, 
roasting a sheep's heart and liver on a wooden skewer. 
His friends were distressed at seeing him so occupied, but 
he took it all pleasantly, saying that those who were ill off 
to-day might be happy to-morrow ; and that all great men 
would be the better for having to go through a little of 
what he had borne in his Scottish expedition. He then 
sat down with the two ladies, the one on his right the 
other on his left hand, and did the honours of his lowly 
table. 

Lady Clanranald returned home that same day, a mili- 
tary party having arrived at her house, by whose com- 
mander she was pretty well cross-questioned as to her 
absence. She made the best excuse she could ; but the 
end of it was, that both she and her husband were sent 
prisoners to London, where they lay for nearly a twelve- 
month. 

The morning after Flora's arrival, June 28th, Charles 
was dressed in his new costume, consisting of a printed 
cotton gown, a light-coloured quilted petticoat, white 
apron, and a camlet cloak with a hood to it. His new 
friends assisted him into these puzzling garments ; and 
amid all their misery and danger, could not help laughing 
at the odd figure he made, when, as " Betty Burke," the 
Irishwoman with a genius fot spinning, be it linen or 
woollen, he stood before them. A boat had already been 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIEE. 259 

provided for them ; but as, for fear of discovery, they 
dared not set sail before nightfall, they lighted a fire 
among the rocks to warm themselves meanwhile, for they 
were both cold and wet. Cold and wet, however, they 
were destined to remain, since some very suspicious-look- 
ing row-boats soon came in sight, apparently making for 
the strand where the fugitives Avere shivering. Afraid it 
might betray them, they hastily put out their fire ; and 
soon had the satisfaction of seeing the strangers pursue 
their course right past the spot. 

The welcome night came at last; and Charles, to- 
gether with his supposed mistress, Flora, who was attend- 
ed by Mackechan, embarked, and sailed in the direction 
of Skye, leaving poor O'Neal behind, much against his 
will. Soon after their leaving Benbecula the wind rose, 
and ere long blew furiously, giving them a pretty rocking 
and ducking, in their little open boat. The storm kept 
getting worse and worse, till even the boatmen became 
alarmed ; and Charles, in his amiable way, had to talk and 
sing to them amain, by way of putting thoughts of danger 
out of their heads. His fearlessness heartened them up ; 
and the more so as they thought that the many wonderful 
escapes from danger that he had already experienced, were 
such as God himself alone could have brought about. 
And in the simplicity of their hearts they reasoned that, 
as He had protected the Prince hitherto. He would do so 
still. At daybreak they had no means of knowing exactly 



260 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

where they were, and for a while sailed on at a venture. 
At last they came in sight of a well-known rocky head on 
the island of Skye, towards which they at once steered, 
with the intention of landing. As they neared the shore, 
however, they saw, with dismay, that the place was occu- 
pied by soldiers ; and this not at all suiting their views, 
they turned round and rowed away even more briskly 
than they had pulled towards land. The soldiers caught 
sight of them, and, pursuing their flight with loud shouts, 
commanded them instantly to return to the shore, or they 
should be fired upon. This threat had only the effect of 
increasing their speed; and then, in truth, the bullets 
came peppering after them. " Never mind the villains ! " 
exclaimed Charles to the boatmen, who assured him that 
their fears were for him, not for themselves. " No fear 
for me," was his cheerful reply. But he was afraid for the 
lady who had risked her own life to save his ; and, to keep 
her out of harm's way, begged that she would lie down in 
the bottom of the boat, that the bullets, that came singing 
after them, might fly over her. This she positively re- 
fused to do, unless he would take a similar precaution. 
So, in order to protect her, he was obliged to obey ; and 
both were stowed away in the bottom of the boat, till their 
stout oarsmen had pulled them beyond musket range. 

This little adventure was not very encouraging : seeking 
shelter in Skye, and being received with a discharge of 
musketry. But the desperate position of the Prince called 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 261 

for desperate attempts to save him ; and, being denied a 
landing at this point, they must try for one elsewhere. 
They rowed a few miles further. Poor Flora, worn out 
with fatigue, fell asleep as she lay there in the bottom of 
the boat ; and Charles, covering her up from the cold as 
well as he could, sat by her, lest in the dark, the boatmen, 
moving about, might chance to tread upon her. A little 
wine, too, that remained of the stores provided by Lady 
Clanranald, he carefully reserved for the use of his pro- 
tectress. 

They finally got ashore near the home of Sir Alexan- 
der Macdonald, who, fortunately for the Prince, was then 
at Fort Augustus, with the Duke of Cumberland. Lady 
Macdonald, however, was at home ; and as she took the 
liberty of remaining a staunch Jacobite, spite of her hus- 
band's turning Hanoverian, that served their purpose 
much better. Under the circumstances, they could well 
spare Sir Alexander. 

Leaving Charles behind after they had landed, there 
you may see him, a great, clumsy-looking Irishwoman, 
sitting forlornly on the beach. Flora and Neil went di- 
rectly to the house, and asked to see Lady Margaret. 
Lady Margaret had visitors, including the commanding 
officer of the militia stationed there. This looked bad ; 
but Flora betrayed no discomposure, joined the party, 
entered into conversation with the gentleman. Lieutenant 
Macleod, in the most easy manner, and even sat out din- 



262 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

ner without any one's having the least idea of her being 
come save on a mere friendly visit. O how long dinner 
seemed ; with the life of that forlorn wanderer on the 
beach, trembling in the scale all the while ! At length 
she contrived to make known to one of the clan present, 
Macdonald of Kingsburgh, a stout old Jacobite, that the 
Prince was in the neighbourhood. Kingsburgh immedi- 
ately sought out Lady Margaret ; who, as he whispered 
to her the important communication, loyal woman as she 
was, screamed out that they were all ruined and undone. 
Kingsburgh did his best to soothe her down, declaring he 
was quite willing to hide the Prince in his own house ; 
for he was himself an old man, and it did not much mat^ 
ter whether he got hanged at once, or died quietly in his 
bed : he could not live long in any case. 

A grand consultation was now held as to what should 
be done with Charles ; and when a plan had been decided 
upon, Kingsburgh was sent out to inform him of it. Tak- 
ing with him a bottle of wine and some bread, the old man 
made his way to the place where Charles had been left. 
He soon found the poor uncouth figure we have described ; 
who, uncertain whether it was friend or foe that was 
advancing on him, started up, with a thick stick in his 
hand, as though he were very much disposed to knock the 
intruder down. Kingsburgh hastened to tell him who he 
was ; and, as soon as the Prince had refreshed himself, 
they started off on their journey to Kingsburgh. As 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 263 

they walked along, Kingsburgh was wondering how it 
was that he had chanced to be at Sir Alexander's that 
day, seeing he had not had any business to transact with his 
chief; to which Charles's prompt reply was, that God him- 
self must have sent him to Mugstat, in order to rescue 
his oppressed prince. 

They were soon joined by Flora, who had thought it 
safer to follow, than to set out with them. When she 
left Mugstat, in order more completely to baffle Lieuten- 
ant Macleod, the two ladies parted with well-feigned 
reluctance ; Lady Margaret entreating her to stay a little 
longer, and Flora excusing herself on the score of the 
unsettled state of the country, which made her anxious to 
reach her mother's house. Flora was accompanied by 
another of Lady Margaret's guests, a Mrs. Macdonald, 
who was in their secret. Her servants, though, were not ; 
and one of them, her own maid, gave them a pretty fright 
by her remarks on the singular appearance of Betty 
Burke. She declared she had never seen " such a tall, 
impudent-looking woman in her life ; " adding her belief 
that " those Irishwomen could fight as well as men ; " 
nay, she " dared say that this one was, after all, a man in 
woman's clothes ! " O how poor Flora must have 
groaned with apprehension at that last suggestion ! And 
right glad were the whole of the little party of fugitives, 
when Mrs. Macdonald and her servants bade them good 
day, and turned oif the road. 



264 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

Their troubles about " Betty " were, however, by no 
means at an end. Being Sunday, they met many of the 
country people returning from church ; all of whom were 
struck by the peculiar appearance of the disguised Prince. 
Some of them, when they got home, told their neighbours 
that they had met on the road a big clumsy woman, who 
looked more like a man than a woman ; adding carelessly, 
perhaps it was the Prince, for whom everybody was hunt- 
ing. No wonder that remarks were made about him ; for 
Charles, though a graceful man, made anything but a 
graceful woman, and gave his friends no little trouble in 
drilling him to play* his new part. He misconducted 
himself in all sorts of ways, stalking on with great, long 
strides, making a bow when he ought to have dropped a 
courtesy. And the first brook they came to — that was 
worst of all ; for, anxious to keep his novel incumbrances 
from getting wet as they crossed it, he held his gown and 
petticoat so high, that Kingsburgh was obliged to scold 
him for his indecorousness : no woman would have done 
in that way ! Poor " Betty " promised to do better next 
time ; but O dear, dear ! when the next time came, he did 
not lift them up at all, but just let them draggle through 
the water ! This was every bit as bad ; but frightened as 
Kingsburgh was, lest such gross mismanagement of petti- 
coats should betray the Prince, he could not help joining 
Charles in his laugh at himself. " They call you a Pretend- 
er," said the old man ; " if you are one, I can only say 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 265 

that you are the very worst at your trade I have ever 



seen.' 



Spite of all these dangers, they got safely, though wet 
and weary, to Kingsburgh's house. It was so late at night 
that every body was gone to bed ; so Kingsburgh sent up 
word to his wife that he had brought visitors with him, 
and they wanted some supper. The lady, not being dis- 
posed to get up, sent word down that they must make 
themselves as comfortable as they could. Just as she had 
dispatched this message, in ran one of her little girls, who, 
roused by the noise, had been peeping at the new comers • 
and now, in some alarm, told her mother that her father 
had brought home with him, and into the hall too, the 
biggest, strangest, " ill-shaken-up wife, she had ever seen." 
Mrs. Macdonald pricked up her ears at this, and began to 
think it was time she was stirring herself. Who in the 
world had her husband picked up ? Kingsburgh hurried 
upstairs to her just in time to explain all this. He did 
not tell her who the odd-looking woman was, but led her 
to suppose it was some one or other of his Jacobite friends 
who was in danger, and required concealment. There 
were too many in this sad case for the announcement to 
occasion any surprise ; however, out of bed got the lady, 
sending her little girl down for the keys, which she had 
forgotten, below stairs. But the child came back without 
them, saying she dared not go into the hall for fear of the 
big woman, who was stalking about there in the strangest 
12 



266 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

manner. Upon this Mrs. Macdonald — or, to give her her 
proper title, the Mistress of Kingsburgh — was obliged to 
fetch the keys herself. Charles rose as she entered, and 
according to the custom of the times, kissed her cheek. 
Poor Mrs. Macdonald ! Under that hood was a man's 
beard, and she got a rub with it ! She had presence of 
mind to say nothing ; but, returning to her husband, he 
told her plainly, clasping her hands in his own, that it w^as 
the Prince. Like Lady Margaret, she exclaimed in reply, 
" The Prince ! then we shall be hanged ! " " Never 
mind," w^as Kingsburgh's rejoinder ; " we can only die 
once. Bring out some supper, for the poor man is near 
famished : some eggs, butter, cheese, and anything else 
that is about." The lady was shocked at the idea of 
setting dowp a prince to such a supper as that. But her 
husband quickly assured her that viands like these were 
luxurious, compared with those on w^hich Charles had 
been living. And overcoming her further scruples as to 
her own sitting down to table with royalty — to the butter, 
eggs, and cheese, they all fell with good appetite ; Charles 
placing himself between the two ladies. Flora on his right, 
the Mistress of Kingsburgh on his left hand. 

When supper was over, a comfortable bowl of punch 
followed for the gentlemen ; and after that another, and 
another, till at last, in a good-humoured contest as to 
whether it should, or should not be filled again, they broke 
the bowl in two between them, which put an end to the 
drinking for that night. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 267 

Poor Charles, during his wandering life, had almost 
forgotten \vhat a bed was. Snugged up once more in 
sheets and blankets, he now slept long and luxuriously. 
It was one o'clock next day before he got up. One of 
his host's daughters, anxious for his safety, had suggested 
to her father the propriety of waking him earlier. But 
he bade her let the poor man have his sleep out ; and 
then, wrapping the bed clothes round him again (for he, 
too, was in bed), had another nap himself. 

When the Prince did get up, the ladies had to be 
summoned to finish his dressing ; for cap, gown, cloak, 
head-dress, proved such puzzling articles of feminine gear, 
as defied his skill to get into them properly. Laughing 
till he nearly dropped as the process went on, it was at 
last finished by the practised hands of his host and pro- 
tectress ; who, when all was done, begged a lock of his 
hair as their reward. He begged them take as much as 
they liked ; and, bending his head that he might be sheared 
with the greater ease, Flora cropped enough to divide 
between herself and the Mistress of Kingsburgh. That 
fair hair would be treasured long after the head on which 
it grew was laid in the dust. Charles's shoes were quite 
worn out with so many weary foot journeys, so Kings- 
burgh found him a new pair. The old ones he carefully 
put aside, telling Charles he would preserve them till the 
Stuarts were again at St. James's ; and then he would 
come to court, and introduce himself by shaking the tat- 



268 PKINCE CHAELIE 

tered brogues at his Royal Highness, to put him in mind 
of his night at Kingsburgh. The Prince smilingly bade 
the facetious old gentleman be as good as his word. 

Before parting, Charles begged a pinch of snuff from 
Mrs. Macdonald's box — for ladies took snuff in those by- 
gone days ! — and she gave him box and all for a keep- 
sake ; and then he, with his two companions, set out again 
on his travels. 

When they were gone, the old lady went into the 
room where Charles had slept, drew off the sheets from 
his bed, folded and put them by carefully, charging her 
daughter to lay her in them when she was dead. The 
command was scrupulously obeyed as to one of the sheets. 
The other had been previously given by the old lady to 
Flora, who became her daughter-in-law ; and who made 
it her own winding-sheet when, many years afterwards, 
she too was laid in her grave. 



THE YOTTNGT CHEVALIER. 269 



CHAPTER XY. 

The plan arranged for the present by Charles's friends 
was, that he should proceed on foot from Kingsburgh to 
Portree, the principal town of Skye, and there take boat 
for Raasay, an island that lies between Skye and the 
mainland. This island belonged to a Macleod, who, 
with his clan, had been engaged in the insurrection. But 
as his eldest son had remained loyal to the government, 
— not from any love to it, but to save the estate from 
confiscation, — it was thought the laird would have the 
more power to protect the Prince until an opportunity 
should occur, either of finding him a better hiding-place, 
or of getting him off entirely to France which was the 
great object of his wanderings. 

As it was suspected that the boatmen who had brought 
the Prince and his friends to Skye, had a better notion as 
to who the tall Irishwoman was, than was at all desira- 
ble, it was decided that as soon as possible he should 
cease to be Betty Burke, and become a gentleman again. 
To accomplish this, Kingsburgh, when they set out for 



270 PRINCE CHAELIE, 

Portree, carried with him a Highland dress ; and when 
they had got to a safe distance from the house where they 
had slept, he and Charles turned aside into the wood, and 
doffed cap, gown, and apron (which were cautiously hid- 
den out of the way) ; the Prince assuming in their place 
the philibeg, short coat, plaid, and bonnet. After helping 
him to complete this change, Kingsburgh returned home, 
leaving Charles to proceed with Niel Macdonald, or Mac- 
kechan, to Portree, where Elora, who had taken a differ- 
ent road, was to rejoin them. 

Their friends at Portree had, meanwhile, been in no 
small difficulty about the finding of a boat to carry the 
fugitives to Eaasay. All the boats belonging to the 
island had either been carried off, or destroyed by the 
soldiery, with the exception of two ; and these had been 
hidden, none of them knew where. At length, as they 
pondered and puzzled, it was remembered that a small 
boat was always kept on a neighbouring lake ; and two 
or three active Macleods, including the young laird, 
together with some women, contrived, among them, to 
drag it overland more than a mile, half bog, half preci- 
pice, to the coast. When launched, they rowed it, with 
the help of a boy whom they caught up, to Raasay, to 
seek Captain Macleod (formerly one of the Prince's 
officers), get a good boat from him, return with it to Por- 
tree, and take Charles on board there. If the;f could not 
succeed either in finding Malcolm Macleod, or procuring 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 271 

a better boat, they were to make the best they could of 
the skiff already in their possession. 

Fortunately, as soon as they landed on the island, they 
fell in with Malcolm, who, as an old Jacobite, was eager 
in the service of his prince. Young Raasay had not yet 
been implicated in the rebellion, and this made his uncle 
unwilling that he should now be involved, by taking an 
active part in assisting the Prince ; he wished that all 
this should be left to himself, who was already over head 
and ears in it. The young chief, however, would not con- 
sent to Malcolm's reasoning. He declared that, cost him 
what it might, he would do all in his power for Charles ; 
and then his uncle bade him in God's name go on. 

Malcolm's strong, serviceable boat was now ready, and 
a couple of stalwart Highlanders were just about taking 
their seats at the oars, when they suddenly turned restive, 
stoutly declaring they would not pull a stroke till they 
knew what they were going about. Some risk must be 
run, for there was not a moijient to lose ; so the two men 
were told plainly what was the expedition on which they 
were setting out. Hurrah ! that was the very thing for 
them ! When they found that the rescue of the Prince 
was the object in view, they were all hot haste for putting 
to sea, every whit as eager about it as their masters. 
Their willing arms soon shot the craft over the intervening 
three miles, and the party came ashore at a little distance 
from Portree. Malcolm walked on alone to look out for 



272 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

Charles, who was soon found ; and then they went into 
the one wretched public-house of the place together. 
Charles, who had little more on him than a plaid, was 
wet to the skin with the drenching rain — those small is- 
lands are rainy spots — so, after swallowing a little brandy, 
which he much needed, they made him put on dry things 
before getting his dinner. To put on a clean shirt before 
Miss Macdonald, was rather more than the Prince felt 
himself equal to ; but there was nothing for it in the one 
room of that wretched hovel, and things had got beyond 
ceremony. So at last he gave way, and did as he was 
desired. Malcolm expressed his concern at the Prince's 
uncomfortable condition, owing to the bad weather ; but 
he replied that his only care was that Flora should have 
been exposed to it. After making a good dinner on 
broiled fish, with butter and cheese, he was obliged, when 
he wanted some drink, to be content with cold water out 
of a little bucket, ordinarily used for bailing the boat. 
Poor Charles, spite of the rough doings he had so long 
encountered, rather " shied " at this novel drinking vessel ; 
but as any exhibition of more refined habits than those of 
the people who were about the house might have betrayed 
him, he was fain to put up with it, and regaled himself 
out of the wooden pail. Before departing, he wanted 
some tobacco, for he occasionally comforted himself with 
a short pipe, especially when he had the toothache, which 
was one of the small plagues of his wandering life ; and 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 273 

the landlord brought him some, for which he asked four- 
pence halfpenny. Charles gave the man sixpence, and 
was going off without waiting for the three halfpence due 
to him, when one of his companions, fearing such unwont- 
ed liberality would lead the innkeeper to suspect that his 
guest was of higher rank than his appearance indicated, 
called for the " change," and made the Prince put it in his 
" sporran," or Highland purse : the furry, betasselled con- 
cern that is w orn in front like a little apron. The Prince 
was much amused at the idea of his receiving three half- 
pence " change " from the landlord of a dirty little public- 
house. Donald Roy, however, insisted upon it ; adding, 
that even the halfpence might do him good service. Dis- 
creet Donald also prevented Charles being content with 
thirteen shillings — all the landlord had — as change for a 
guinea ; the shillings being so much more useful to him 
in his wanderings than gold, that he would fain have been 
content with the few he could get. But this, again, would 
have betrayed the great man, among those simple people ; 
and therefore was not to be allowed. 

The Prince here took his leave of Flora Macdonald, 
who could no longer be of service to him. As they 
travelled together he had borrowed a half-crown from 
her, which he now paid, with thanks. Then kissing her 
cheek in farewell, he expressed his hope that, notwith- 
standing all that had happened, they might yet meet at 
10* 



274 PEINCE CHARLIE, 



St. James's ! And stepping into the boat, he was 
speedily rowed over to his first place of refuge. 

Raasay, where he now landed, is a rocky island, con- 
siderably longer than broad, and where it rains nine 
months in the year, thanks to the neighbouring high 
peaks of Skye. It was a primitive place ; tending cattle, 
and fishing, being two of the principal occupations of its 
inhabitants. There were no roads in the island ; tracks 
that their plodding feet, as well as those of their cattle, 
had tramped out, sufficing for such intercourse and 
traffic as its primitive people required. Yet even here 
that cruel Duke had been wreaking his vengeance ; and, 
thanks to the wholesale destruction, by his soldiery, of 
the dwellings of its unfortunate inhabitants, it was now 
no easy matter to house the Prince. A mere hut, con- 
structed by some of the peasantry who tended cattle 
thereabout, was the best shelter they could find for him. 
This was made as comfortable as their scanty means per- 
mitted ; a good fire was soon burning on the hearth, and 
plenty of heather strewn for his bed ; — the Highlanders 
place it bloom uppermost, and, covered with the 
plaid, it is certainly not quite so hard as a " soft plank." 
Their household cares attended to, they next sat down, 
with hearty appetites, after ten miles' pull across the 
Sound, to some provisions with which old Kingsburgh 
had furnished them. 

When these good things were all eaten up, the 



i 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIER. 275 

puzzle was to get more ; for, though young Raasay was 
in the midst of his own flocks and herds, he dared not 
help himself to any of them, for fear of the loss leading 
to the Prince's discovery. At last he contrived to steal 
one of his own kids, brought it to the hut in his plaid, 
and then they had rather a respectable meal — a sort of 
lord mayor's dinner, indeed, in comparison with what 
the Prince had been so long living upon ; for it com- 
prised roast kid, butter, bread (both wheaten and oaten), 
with whiskey and brandy for drinkables. The wheaten 
bread was a treat in that part of the country, where the 
people almost universally use cakes of oatmeal. Charles, 
however, would not touch either it or the brandy while 
oat-bread and whiskey held out ; for those, he said, were 
his own country bread and drink. His observance of 
Scottish customs in these, and other little particulars, 
gave great satisfaction to the common people, who might 
otherwise have allowed his foreign birth to prejudice 
them against him. He loved to make a thorough Scot 
of himself; and it was kindly, as well as wisely done. 
Nor could the veriest Highlander among them, bred to 
the wild, mountain life of those times, have endured hard- 
ships and privations of the extremest kind, with a 
stouter heart than did this young prince. But though 
his heart never failed him, his bodily strength was now 
beginning to give way under long-continued hunger, want 
of rest, anxiety, and exposure to weather. 



276 PKINCE CHAELIE, 

He was greatly concerned on being told how the 
island had been racked and ruined by the soldiery ; but 
tried to comfort himself, and those about him, by looking 
forward to better times, when his father should be on the 
British throne ; and then he would give the islanders 
houses built of stone, in place of their huts that had been 
burned. As he walked to and fro with his friends on a 
strip of greensward near the hovel, he remarked that the 
life he was leading was a " bitter hard one ; " but, at any 
rate, better than being seized by his enemies. Not that 
he thought they would dare to take his life openly, but 
that he should dread being destroyed privately by 
poison or assassination. He said that since CuUoden, he 
had gone through enough to kill a hundred men ; he 
wondered how he had borne up under it all ; surely, 
surely Providence must be preserving him for some 
good. Poor felloAV ! Good was intended for him by an 
Almighty Father, as it is for every one of us ; but it 
was not the good that he meant. The restoration of his 
family to their ancient inheritance was never to take 
place ; their very name was to be extinguished, when 
he and his brother were laid in their graves ! 

That night Charles slept long on his heather bed. But 
his rest was broken, he started in his sleep, talked to him- 
self in various languages ; one of his exclamations, 
prompted doubtless by the evening's conversation, 
being, distinctly, " O God ! poor Scotland ! " For, in 



THE YOUNG CHEYALIEK. 277 

addition to what had been done on the little spot where 
he then found brief shelter, he was not ignorant of the 
cruelties inflicted in the wide Highlands, and even beyond 
their border, by that horrible Duke of Cumberland. As 
a man of exemplary humanity, his heart was oppressed 
by these things ; while, as being perpetrated upon those 
whom he deemed his father's subjects, and simply for 
their loyalty to him, they weighed upon him to an extent 
that his own troubles never had done. Still, while thus 
severely suffering himself, he was thoughtful for those 
about him ; and for their sakes kept up an appearance 
of cheerfulness. On one occasion, when his faithful 
attendant, O'Neal, literally sank under w^eariness and 
anxiety, the Prince, after doing all in his power to cheer 
him, but in vain, at last turned to some girls, who from 
their flock of goats had given the two a little milk to 
wash down some eggs and coarse bread which an old 
woman had bestowed upon them ; and, inviting them to 
dance a Highland reel with him, kept up the game so 
merrily as effectually to shame his friend out of his de- 
spondency. 

While the Prince was at Raasay, a strict watch was 
kept, to guard against surprise in any direction. One 
day, however, they had a sad fright. Mackenzie, one of 
the boatmen, who had been posted on a hill-top as his 
look-out, came full speed to the hut, saying that a sus- 
picious sort of person, who had been wandering about 



278 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

the island for some days under pretence of selling 
tobacco, was coming in that direction. The three gentle- 
men took alarm immediately ; the Prince's life must be 
protected at all hazards, and they were not long in resolv- 
ing that, in case of need, the man must be shot. " God 
forbid," exclaimed Charles earnestly, " that we should 
take away the life of a man who may be innocent, while 
we can possibly preserve our own." The Macleods 
declared that it must, and should be done ; and while the 
Prince was contending the point with them, Mackenzie, 
the boatman, who, as he stood sentry at the door, over- 
heard what was said, struck in, in his native tongue, 
" Well, well, he must be shot ; you are the King, but we 
are the parliament, and will do what we choose." 
Charles did not understand him, but, seeing the Macleods 
smile, asked what Mackenzie had said. When he was 
told, spite of the danger he was in, he could not help 
laughing at the honest fellow's idea of how a king was to 
be controlled. An idea expressed in the innocence of 
his heart, and without the slightest notion of any allusion 
to political systems : all that he meant was, that Charles 
was one, and they were many. The unknown who was 
to be disposed of with so little ceremony proved to be 
one of their friends, wandering like themselves, since the 
dispersion of Culloden. " But," said Malcolm Macleod 
in after years, " in such circumstances, I would have shot 
my own brother, if I had not been sure of him ! " 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 279 

Charles told his friends that he did not think it safe 
to stay long in one place ; and being in hopes of finding 
a French vessel waiting to take him off near Lochbroom, 
in the country of the Mackenzies, he was disposed to go 
there immediately. In their zeal they at once offered to 
take him, though it was a long way off, in Malcolm's boat. 
This plan being decided against as too hazardous, a mes- 
senger was sent to Mr. Mackenzie on the mainland, in 
Ross ; who returned answer that no such ship had been 
either seen, or heard of in that part of the country. Dis- 
appointed here, the next scheme proposed was that they 
should return to Skye, and see what could be done for him 
there. So they took boat again, though the sea was so 
rough that they were hard at work baling out water to 
keep their little craft afloat. As they tossed about, 
Charles inquired whether there was any danger, and on 
being told that there was not, amused himself by singing 
a Gaelic song ; for by this time he had picked up a good 
deal of the native language of his faithful Highlanders. 
It cost them a hard pull to reach land ; the coast was 
rocky and dangerous, and they had to leap into the water 
to get ashore ; then among them they hauled up their 
boat on the beach. The Prince's movements were some- 
what impeded by his great coat's being thoroughly water- 
sopped by the beating waves. Captain Macleod would 
have had him pull it off, that he might carry it for him ; 



280 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

but Charles stuck to it, drenched as it was, declaring he 
was quite as able to carry it as the captain. 

Wet, weary, and cold as they were, a cow-house, at 
some distance from their landing-place, was the only shel- 
ter they could find ; and, after supping on some bread and 
cheese they had brought with them, they lay down by 
the fire, for it was now late at night. As soon as they 
awoke next morning, young Raasay was sent to collect 
all the news that he could, which might influence the 
Prince's movements. One of the Macleods was also dis- 
patched in a different direction, with orders to endeavour 
to try to procure a boat, at a certain place seven miles 
distant, for the Prince's use. On sending him off, Charles 
gave him a case, in which were a spoon, knife, and fork, 
to take care of for him till they met, which Macleod fan- 
cied would be in a day or two. Charles, however, had 
purposely misled the two. He had a plan in his head, 
which he preferred keeping to himself and Malcolm ; and 
as soon as he had thus got rid of the other two, he at once 
opened it, begging Malcolm to guide him to another part 
of the island, belonging to one of the Mackinnons, who 
had been concerned in the insurrection. Malcolm object- 
ed to the danger of his going thither. But the Prince 
replied that nothing now could be done without danger ; 
so it was agreed they should make the attempt. 

To disguise the Prince most effectually, it was arrang- 
ed that he and Malcolm should travel as master and ser- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 281 

vant; Malcolm being master, and Charles his servant, 
under the name of Lewis Caw. To support the character 
properly, Charles took the bag containing his small stock 
of linen, upon his own shoulder, and walked at a respect- 
ful distance behind Malcolm ; touching his bonnet, when 
spoken to, like a well-bred serving-man. They went on 
for a while in this way, and then it struck Charles that 
the dresses of the two were not in exact keeping with the 
relationship which it had been necessary to assume ; for 
his own Avaistcoat was of bright Stuart tartan with gold 
buttons, while Malcolm wore a plain one. So he made 
an exchange with his friend ; observing that it did not 
look well that the servant should be better dressed than 
the master. Adding, as he buttoned himself up in the 
shabbier garment, that he hoped one day to give his com- 
panion a better waistcoat. 

Malcolm, like most Highlanders, was a good walker ; 
yet he could scarcely keep up with the Prince, who told 
him he should not much fear the soldiers who were in 
pursuit of him, if he could but get beyond musket range. 
The Highlanders in the hostile force he could not hope to 
distance so easily ; they being as fleet-footed as himself. 
His old sporting habits in Italy now stood him in good 
stead, by inuring him to long journeys on foot. The 
spirit of the sportsman, notwithstanding his danger, was 
still £0 strong in him that he would fain have popped at 
some partridges that rose before them as they went along. 



282 

Malcolm, however, would not suffer this, for fear lest the 
sound of fire-arms should betray them to some of the ves- 
sels cruising on the coast. 

As they trudged over the moimtains, through byways 
to avoid observation, Malcolm asked him what he would 
do, should they fall in with the soldiers. " Fight, to be sure," 
was the reply. And they agreed that they two could 
match any four. Their walk was a stiff one, thirty miles 
of rough road ; and their day's provision consisted of 
some miserable bread and cheese, — the bread so mouldy 
that few, save those so pinched by want as were the royal 
traveller and his friend, would have thought it fit to eat. 
A little brandy served to recruit their strength ; but this, 
except a single glass, was all drunk out when they were 
still some miles from their journey's end. Seeing that 
Malcolm was more worn with toil than himself, Charles 
compelled him, spite of his objections, to finish the bottle, 
which was then hidden away among the heather. 

Drawing near their destination, Charles inquired of 
his companion whether his disguise was complete. Mal- 
colm was obliged to confess that it was not ; anybody 
who had ever seen the Prince would be sure to know 
him again ; and as to blackening his face with powder, as 
Charles suggested, that would only make bad, w^orse. 
So, with a pleasant grumble at his " odd face," which no 
one who had once seen could fail to recognise, the Prince 
pulled off his wig, tied a handkerchief round his head. 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 283 

drew on his nightcap over that, tore off his shirt ruffles, 
took the buckles out of his shoes, tying them instead with 
strings, and then appealed once more to Malcolm. But 
though he had made a thorough " guy " of himself, even 
yet Malcolm was not satisfied. Then there was no help 
for it, the " odd face " must take its chance ; though in 
truth it was not the face alone, but the noble mien that 
could not be disguised. So on they went; not to the 
residence of the chief, (for though Charles knew him to be 
a good and trustworthy man, his age rendered him un- 
suitable for the active service which the Prince now re- 
quired,) but to that of another of the clan, Malcolm's 
brother-in-law, John Mackinnon, from whose house he 
might easily reach the mainland, should that be desirable. 
As they approached John Mackinnon's house, they 
met a man who had been in the Highland army ; and 
who, fixing his eye steadily upon the Prince, instantly made 
Malcolm's words good by recognising him ; uttering, as 
he did so, a cry of distress at finding him in so wretched 
a condition. The man's feeling was so evidently genuine 
that they could not doubt his fidelity ; yet they thought 
it best to swear him to secrecy, Highland fashion, on 
Malcolm's dirk. The oath thus taken, upon the drawn 
dirk, consists of a series of invocations upon themselves 
of all sorts of evils, if they violate it ; and was one con- 
sidered peculiarly binding upon them by those unculti- 
vated people. 



284: PKINCE CHAELIE, 

The house towards which they were making, was 
reached in the early morning. Malcolm going forward 
by himself to see whether the coast was clear, was asked 
by his sister, whose husband was not just then at home, 
who the young man with him was. He told her it was 
Lewis Caw from Crieff, a fugitive like himself, whom he 
had engaged for a servant, but who had fallen ill. Mrs. 
Mackinnon pitied the poor fellow, adding that her heart 
w^armed towards him ; so he was immediately brought 
into the house. Breakfast being placed before Malcolm, 
Lewis sat respectfully at a distance without venturing to 
come forw^ard, till urged by his master to join him. He 
then rose, made a bow, and sitting down to the welcome 
eatables, made them disappear rapidly. When they had 
done eating, an old woman servant brought in warm 
water ; and after the ancient custom of the country, 
washed Malcolm's feet. When she had finished, he bade 
her w^ash that poor man's feet, pointing to Charles. Her 
pride rose at the idea of washing a servant's feet ; she 
felt it an indignity, and answered warmly, "Though I 
washed your father's son's feet, why should I wash his 
father's son's feet ? " Pride, however, at last gave way, 
and she condescended, though with the worst possible 
grace, to render this most acceptable service to the poor 
travel-stained serving man ; little dreaming that those 
swollen, bruised feet were those of a royal prince. 

The weary travellers then lay down to rest, and had 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 285 

a sound sleep. When Malcolm awoke he was surprised 
to find the Prince already up, and playing with Mrs. 
Mackinnon's baby ; the boy, he said, as he tossed him 
about, might one day be a captain in his service. " You 
mean," said the gruff old woman, who was looking on, 
" that you may possibly be an old sergeant in his com- 
pany ! " And having delivered herself of this amiable 
speech, she doubtless felt avenged for having had to wash 
the stranger's feet ! It was evident that here the " odd 
face " had not betrayed its owner. 

Malcolm then turned out to look for John Mackinnon, 
and on meeting him, after a little talk, said, pointing to 
the sea, where were some English vessels cruising about, 
" What if the Prince should be a prisoner on board one 
of those tenders?" "God forbid!" was Mackinnon's 
earnest reply. Thus encouraged, Malcolm proceeded : 
" What if we had him here ? " "I wish we had," re- 
turned the other, " we w^ould take good care of him." 
" Well, John," rejoined his friend, " then he is now in 
your house ! " Delighted beyond measure, good John 
Mackinnon was on the point of running in to see him, 
post haste, but was checked by his more prudent brother, 
who reminded him of the necessity of extreme caution in 
this matter, as the least indiscretion on their part, might 
cost the Prince his life. Mackinnon on this moderated 
his zeal, and sent all his servants out of the way in 
different directions before he ventured in to greet his 



286 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

guest ; whose miserable appearance made even the sturdy 
Highlander weep. He was not long in providing means 
to carry the Prince, as he desired, over to the opposite 
shore. A small leaky boat lying near the house was first 
fixed upon for this purpose ; but as John went to fetch it, 
he met the laird himself, to whom, in the joy of his heart, 
he let out the whole secret ; though it was one that Charles 
had wished to keep from the old gentleman. Mackinnon 
upon this immediately brought his own boat, which was 
a more sea-worthy affair ; and after paying his duty to 
the Prince, entertained him in a cave hard by, with some 
cold meat and wine. It was soon settled that the loyal 
old chief, whose heart was stout, though age had enfeebled 
his limbs, should, together with John, take the Prince to 
the mainland, sending Malcolm back again, lest his ab- 
sence should draw the military after him, on the Prince's 
trail. 

In taking leave of this faithful friend, Charles warmly 
acknowledged his kindness, pressing upon him, for his ac- 
ceptance, ten guineas, and a silver stock-buckle, by way 
of keepsake. The money Malcolm would fain have re- 
fused, for he saw that there were not more than forty 
guineas in the purse whence it came. The Prince, however, 
would not be denied, as he expected to get more on the 
mainland whither he was going, and he knew Malcolm 
would need what he offered him. Before sailing, Charles 
wrote a letter of thanks to his friends in Raasay, which he 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 287 

signed " James Thompson," and consigned to Malcolm's 
care. Then, when they had smoked a pipe together, they 
parted, each going on his way ; Charles to increased hard- 
ships and dangers on the mainland, Malcolm, after ten 
days had passed, to imprisonment aboard ship, which 
finally conveyed him to London for trial. 

Flora Macdonald too, not long after parting with the 
Prince, was laid hold of by an armed party, and carried 
on board Captain Ferguson's ship; where she quietly 
owned all that she had done to save the Prince. She was 
kindly treated both on shipboard, and in her, mild, Lon- 
don imprisonment ; for even the Prince's enemies could 
not but admire the courage and devotion which she had 
displayed. After being detained in London for about 
twelve months, she was permitted to return home, with- 
out trial, choosing for her travelling companion our old 
friend Malcolm, who, like herself, had been " let alone ! " 
Li after days, when telling the story of his adventures, he 
used to say humorously that he " went up to London to 
be hanged, and returned in a fine post-chaise with Miss 
Flora Macdonald." Kingsburgh also was taken, and 
very harshly treated, being thrown into prison at Fort 
Augustus, and heavily ironed, after having had everything 
taken from him. 

While confined here, it is said that an order came one 
day for the release of a prisoner named Alexander Mac- 
donald. As this was Kingsburgh's name, as well as that 



288 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

of a great many more of the clan, the officer on guard 
asked him if it were not he. He answered that his name 
certainly was Alexander Macdonald, but he imagined he 
was not the person intended ; he thought there was some 
mistake. The officer, in reply, angrily asked him why, if 
his name was Alexander Macdonald, he did not take him- 
self off at once. Kingsburgh persisted for a while in say- 
ing that he believed there was a mistake ; but at last did 
as the officer bid him, just walking out into the street. 
There he met a friend, who urged him to get out of the 
fort, and away as fast as he could. " No," said he, " I 
must wait at the alehouse opposite to see whether the 
officer does not get into a scrape." In a couple of hours 
afterwards down came a superior officer, who instantly 
arrested the lieutenant on guard for having set at liberty 
so dangerous a rebel as honest Kingsburgh. Back again 
ran Kingsburgh, and saying, " I told you there must be 
some mistake," quietly gave himself up again. He was 
taken to London, and, like Malcolm and Flora, got his 
liberty — this time without mistake — in a twelvemonth. 

The Prince's good friend Lady Margaret Macdonald 
had not done anything to bring herself within reach of the 
law ; but, seeing her husband was a government man, 
some were pleased to blame her much for what she had 
done for the wanderer. Sir Alexander himself pleaded in 
his wife's excuse, and that of Kingsburgh also, the wretch- 
ed condition of the Prince when he presented himself to 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 289 

crave their help — diseased, starved, worn out with want 
of sleep, and with exposure to weather, the man was in a 
state to break any one's heart ! And he urged, not very 
truly it is to be feared, that their compassion had over- 
powered their better judgment. For himself, he earnestly 
repudiated having had the slightest idea of the " cargo," — 
so he termed the Prince, ^with which Miss Plora had 
landed at his house, tbafc unlucky morning. 

But it was not all blame for the good Lady Margaret. 
Prince Frederick, eldest brother of the Duke of Cumber- 
land, checked the censure which the Princess, his wife, 
was heaping upon her by saying, with emotion : — " And 
would not you, madam, in such circumstances, have done 
the same 1 I hope — I am sure you would ! " That was 
a better-hearted fellow than Duke William. 



13 



290 PRINCE CHAELIE. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

It was night when Charles left Skye, accompanied by old 
Mackinnon, and his relation John ; and a stormy sea lay, 
for thirty miles, between them, and that part of the main- 
land, to which they were making. It was situated in the 
district where, scarce twelve months before, he had first 
landed, full of heart and hope ; and now — what a change ! 
Those who so faithfully cared for him, would fain have 
smoothed the troubled waters, and stilled those angry 
gusts that raised them in white curling waves amid the 
surrounding darkness. But that tempestuous weather 
proved his safety on the perilous voyage; for in mid 
career, a boat was encountered, filled with militiamen, 
who would certainly have boarded them to see who they 
were, but for the friendly, great waves that kept the two 
so far asunder that it was impossible. What we fancy 
our misfortunes, sometimes turn out our greatest bless- 
ings ! The little red crosses in the men's bonnets, — the 
distinguishing badge of the government Highlanders — 
gleamed ominously over the waters ; but it was at an in- 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 291 

creasing, and still increasing distance, till they were fairly- 
borne away on the heaving deep. 

The voyagers landed on the shores of Loch Nevis, 
where they remained in hiding three days, for fear of the 
soldiery who were stationed all about ; for indeed it was 
a very wasp's nest they had got into. Shelter from the 
weather they had none. There was only God's own 
heaven over the head of this most unfortunate prince. 

On the fourth day after their arrival, the old chief 
turned out to look for some hole or other where Charles 
might be at least screened from the wind and rain. Dur- 
ing his absence the Prince had another narrow escape of 
capture. He, and the others who were left, were rowing 
along the shores of the Loch, when suddenly, on rounding 
a point — crack ! came their oars against a boat moored to 
the rock. At a little distance, on shore, stood five men, 
who, by the wicked little red cockades, or crosses in their 
bonnets, were at once known to belong to the militia. 
The men hailed the Prince's party, demanding whence 
they came, and bidding them come ashore that they might 
be overhauled ! That was rather too good. Come 
ashore ! not they indeed. Instead of doing so, they bent 
to their oars, and with might and main pulled from it ; 
the Prince, for safety, being covered up with a plaid at the 
bottom of the boat, with his head between John Mackin- 
noh's knees. When first hailed, the Prince was for spring- 
ing, desperately, ashore ; but John kept him down while 



PRINCE CHAELIE, 

he was down, and would not suffer it. Fnding their hail 
unheeded, the militiamen jumped up, tumbled into their 
boat with all haste, and gaVe chase, as hard as they could. 
How the oars rattled in the rowlocks of both boats as they 
sped along ! Mackinnon bade his men have their muskets 
ready, but not fire till he gave the signal by discharging 
his own piece ; and then they were to take good care that 
not a shot was thrown away. Each was to cover his man, 
before drawing trigger. The Prince, huddled up in the 
bottom of the boat, protested against any unnecessary 
shedding of blood. John readily acquiesced in this ; only 
adding, that if needful, not a soul of them should escape. 
With the militia boat at their heels, they dashed through 
the water till they came alongide a part of the Loch where 
the wood grew down to the very water's edge. Plunging 
into this, they ran nimbly up the hill, from whose crest 
they had the satisfaction of seeing their pursuers, thrown 
completely off the scent, slowly making their way back 
again. After a short rest here, the Prince and his friends 
took to their boat again, and made for a small island on 
the other side of the Loch, whence John Mackinnon went 
to old Clanranald, to entreat his help for the Prince in his 
present distress. The old chief, however, would have 
nothing more to do with him. He thought he had suffer- 
ed quite enough for the Stuarts, and would have no more 
of it. John came back in a rage ; but the Prince took it all 
with his usual philosophy, merely remarking that since that 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 293 

was the case, they must do the best they could for them- 
selves. 

" God helps those who help themselves." That is a 
good saying ; for the help which He gives us, and the care 
which He takes of us, were never intended to lead us la- 
zily to spare our own exertions. Work, boy, work, — as 
though there were no Infinite Power and love to provide 
for you. And then depend on that Power and Love, as 
though you had never stirred a finger ! 

Seeing the old gentleman thus impracticable, the Prince 
and his companions returned to their first landing-place 
on the Loch side. From it, a pretty stiff walk brought 
them to the house of another Macdonald, who, at first, 
was more kindly disposed to them than his chief had been. 
This gentleman's home consisted, at the time, of a mere 
hut, his " house " having been duly burned down under 
the Duke's military law. There was also scanty provision 
in that rude dwelling ; for the only food which his weep- 
ing wife could set before the Prince, was some warmed-up 
fish, without a morsel of bread. That she had not, and 
therefore could not give it. It was exquisitely painful to 
Charles to see the straits and distresses, to which loyalty 
to his family, had brought his faithful followers. Mac- 
donald found them a night's lodging in a cave at hand ; but 
next morning his mood was quite changed, and he was as 
cold, and unwilling to render the Prince any aid, as the 
chief himself had been. 



294: PRINCE CHAKLIE, 

Charles's firmness fairly broke down under this ; and 
in the bitterness of his soul — the very bitterness of death, 
for it was that that was staring him in the face — he poured 
out a passionate appeal to the Almighty Father, under 
whose " loving correction," (for such we must deem the 
troubles that He brings upon us,) his poor human heart 
was now almost crushed; earnestly imploring Him to 
have compassion on his forlorn state. " Surely, John," 
added he, turning to young Mackinnon, " you will not also 
forsake me ? "— " "With God's help," was the reply, " I 
will go through the world with you." 

John was exceedingly indignant at Macdonald's con- 
duct ; and did not hesitate to tell him that he had been in 
bad company since they had met the night before. But 
he might as well not have troubled himself to upbraid the 
man : — Moras, as he was called, stuck to his text, and 
would not stir hand or foot to assist Charles. 

John next conducted the Prince to the house, or rather 
the hut — for his house too had been burned — of Angus 
Macdonald, in Borrodaile, where the Prince had slept when 
he first landed ; and not being able to render him any 
miore service, returned to his home. On arriving there 
he was immediately seized by a party of militia under 
Captain Ferguson, who severely questioned him about his 
proceedings, without extracting any information that could 
be injurious to the Prince. Finding he could make noth- 
ing of the master, Ferguson next tried his hand upon the 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 



295 



man,— one of the boatmen, whom he had tied up, and 
flogged till the blood ran down. But even this, with an 
additional threat that he would treat Mackinnon in the 
same way, failed to shake the firmness of any of the party. 
Not one of them would betray the unfortunate Prince. 
John was, however, packed off to prison, where he had the 
old chief as his companion till July, 1747, when both 
obtained their liberty. 

In entering the humble "bothy," or hut, which now 
did duty for the family mansion of the Macdonalds of 
Borrodaile, Charles felt a natural emotion of distress and 
hesitation. For not only was that miserable dwelling the 
result of Macdonald's active allegiance to him, but he had 
also to lament a son, who fell bravely at Culloden. Tears 
filled the eyes of the Prince as he addressed himself, diffi- 
dently, to the lady of the house, asking whether she could 
bear the sight of one who had brought so much evil upon 
her, and hers. " Yes," was the firm reply, " even though 
all my sons had fallen in their prince's service." 

That was the right, true spirit. Duty before life any 
day. It is not absolutely needful that we should live, but 
it is absolutely needful that we perform our duty. Peo- 
ple's notions of what is duty, will of course differ. These 
brave Scots, believing James their rightful king, thought 
it their duty to peril, and sacrifice their lives for him ; and 
they did it like noble men. Just as Gardiner, and other 
fine spirits on the other side, from the same principle, 



296 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

cheerfully laid down their lives for the Hanoverian 
family. 

The good people of Borrodaile hid Charles for three 
days in a hovel buried among the woods in the vicinity. 
It did not seem a very secure place, but it was .the best 
they could find for him at the time. Their anxious 
fidelity, however, soon prepared a safer refuge for him 
about four miles up the shore, where, in a clefl of the 
steep face of the rock, a sort of hut was built, so ingen- 
iously turfed over, that it looked as if it grew there. 
No one would have dreamed of it being a human habi- 
tation. This oddly-perched little hovel overlooked that 
same Loch na-Nuagh, up which Charles had sailed when 
he first approached the mainland. 

But even here there were only a few days' rest for 
the hunted man. It began to be surmised among his 
pursuers, that he was concealed somewhere about 
Borrodaile ; and news of this reaching his ears, again he 
had to fly. Another, and it was hoped safer spot was 
proposed to him ; but while on the way to it, one of the 
Macdonalds, who had gone in advance, returned, bring- 
ing word of the Royalists having so completely netted the 
whole district as to make escape out of it almost impossible. 
General Campbell, with a large force, was close to Loch 
Nevis, where several men-of-war lay at anchor. Sen- 
tries, within hail of each other, were placed so as to form 
a chain around the Prince on the land side, and no one 



I 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 297 

was allowed to pass their ranks, without having to 
answer all sorts of questions, that would have tripped 
Charles up in a trice. While to prevent any one's stealing 
through under cover of the dark, large watch-fires were 
kept burning in the night. 

It was a terrible difficulty. The Prince seemed 
brought to bay at last. But " nothing venture, nothing 
win." As well be taken, (if taken he must be,) in the 
attempt to break through, as, folding his arms in de- 
spair, without another struggle for freedom. Accom- 
panied by two of the Macdonalds, Charles stole cau- 
tiously through the wilds of Arisaig to a certain spot, 
whence he sent for one of the Camerons, who, being 
well acquainted with that part of the country, might, it 
was hoped, guide him to some safer place. But in the 
dusk of the evening, as they were eagerly looking out 
for Donald, they heard, to their dismay, that a large 
body of the troops who were scouring the country round 
ill search of Charles, were marching towards the very 
hill which they had chosen for their temporary shelter. 
Off they ran down the hill-side, stumbling along in the 
gloom, towards Loch-Arkaig, till about eleven o'clock 
at night, when traversing a deep ravine, dark as it was, 
the figure of a man became apparent making his way 
down one of the overhanging hills. Thrusting' the 
Prince aside that the stranger might not see him, his two 
friends stepped forward to make sure of the new comer. 
13* 



298 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

It was well for them ; and most certainly well for him. 
that it proved to be a friend, the very Donald Cameron 
for whom the Prince had sent. The good fellow, know- 
ing to what straits the Prince was reduced, had brought 
with him all the food he could lay hands on ; but alas, 
it was only some oatmeal and butter, and upon this 
Charles, who was nearly starved, had to make shift to 
live for four days. 

The Prince spent the next few days in hurrying 
hither and thither, backwards and forwards along those 
rugged hills and woods, as each new alarm dictated, till 
at last his wanderings brought him to an elevated spot, 
commanding a view of the whole network that had been 
spread to catch him. The sight was enough to make his 
heart fail. There lay the enemy's camp, so close at hand 
that the cry of the sentries, one to another, fell distinctly 
upon his ear ; while the blazing watch-fires dotted all 
around, threw up a lurid glare at intervals, along the 
line. The stoutest heart might have given up all in 
despair at that moment. Neither the Prince, nor his 
friends were, however, disposed to yield to despair. 
Escape he would, if escape were possible ; and this he 
resolved, at least, to try. There was no accomplishing 
it without passing that line of sentries, and watch-fires ; 
and this they accordingly prepared to attempt. As they 
scrambled on, over the hills, in the dark, Charles nar 
rowly missed losing his life by a fall down a precipice. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 299 

His foot slipped, and had not his two companions caught 
him by the arms, down he must have gone, — whence he 
would not have come back again ! " Slips go over 
again," say the schoolboys. It was well it was not so 
with the Prince ; for the second time he might not have 
got off so well. 

Setting him on his legs again, they posted on till they 
were so near the sentries, that they could hear them talk- 
ing to each other. How little those men thought of 
who was listening ! ITie little party then halted to 
decide on what was to be done. Cameron's plan was 
that he should make the attempt alone ; if he got safely 
past the sentries, and returned to report his success, then 
it was plain that the Prince might venture. 

Bravo, Donald ! that again was preferring duty to 
life ; for had he been detected, stealing through the lines, 
the crack of a musket after him would, just as likely as 
not, have finished the courageous Highlander. With 
stealthy tread he advanced to the dangerous post, w^as 
lost to sight for a brief, anxious period, and presently, to 
the relief of those awaiting the result of his adventure, 
was seen on his way back again, having successfully per- 
formed the hazardous transit. What he could do, they 
could do. 

The watch-fires were now sinking low in the cold gloom 
of morning, which was yet too early to afford light 
enough to betray them. So with Donald, who had just 



300 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

purchased his experience, leading the way, they crept on 
hands and knees, through a deep fissure in the rock, 
which ran between two of the fires ; and just as the sen- 
tries on each side turned on their round, away from this 
cleft, took that opportunity of passing them, crawling on 
till they were completely out of their reach. Once out- 
side the line of sentries they felt comparatively safe ; still 
they pushed onwards, in the direction of Glenelg, to 
place a few more miles between themselves and the red 
coats. They ventured at last to halt, for rest and refresh 
ment. The materials for both were simple enough : each 
man his length of turf for the one ; for the second they 
had only some oatmeal and cheese : — fitter to bait a 
mouse-trap, than to recruit the strength of worn and anx- 
ious men. The Prince, however, with his usual com- 
posure, cut a slice of the cheese, strewed it over thickly 
with oatmeal, and then munched away contentedly. 
These noble viands were liquidated with cold water — 
every one as much as he liked. 

Miraculously escaping the soldiers who had been 
swarming around them, while they, in fancied security, 
were banqueting on oatmeal and cheese, they then travelled 
northwards in search of a French vessel which was rumor- 
ed to have been seen somewhere off Follow, on the west 
coast of Ross. So it had ; but alas ! it was gone again ; 
so that all that remained for the fugitives, was just to go 
back. Not of course to get inside that line of sentries, the 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 301 

Prince had had quite enough of that, but to work iheir 
way round to Locheil's country in the south ; for they had 
heard that Lochiel, and some other chiefs with him, were 
still in a condition to bid defiance to the government. 

A group of faithful Macdonalds, who had not long 
"before joined Charles, now accompanied him in the direc- 
tion of Glenmoriston ; where he was for a time to find 
slielter. They had not gone far on their road when Glen- 
aladale, the cash-keeper of the party, suddenly cried out 
that he had lost the Prince's purse. The Prince was very 
unwilling that he should go back to seek it ; the loss of 
time would, he thought, be worse for them, than the loss 
of the money. As, however, they had not a single guinea 
among them, save what was in the missing purse, and 
without money to procure food they must starve, he at 
last consented to Glenaladale's going in search of it. 
Awaiting his return, he threw himself down behind a lit- 
tle rising ground, which screened him from any chance 
passer by. He had not been there long, when a small 
party of soldiers was seen coming along, one by one, in the 
narrow path which the Prince had been pursuing ; and 
who must have met him, full front, had he continued his 
journey instead of turning aside while the lost purse was 
sought. Glenaladale soon found it, and when on his 
return he heard how this, apparently provoking accident 
had been the means of saving Charles fom his enemies, he 
joined the Prince in devoutly thanking God for so won- 



302 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

derful a preservation. Charles himself remarked that 
he began to think he could not be taken, even if he 
would ! 

With spirits refreshed by this good fortune, they con- 
tinued their route during the night, giving themselves a 
rest during the early part of the next day. In the after- 
noon they were again a-foot. As they plodded wearily 
along they were alarmed by the report of musketry : — the 
death-shots, as it proved, of some of the wretched peasant- 
ry ; who, flying for safety to those wilds, had been 
chased, and brought down by the barbarous soldiery. 
Hunger, fatigue, and drenching rain, from which the little 
party was suffering severely, were nothing to this ; and 
spite of them they sped on till nightfall, when the Prince 
found shelter — nothing more, neither food, nor fire — hud- 
dled up in a hole in the hill-side, too small to permit even 
of his stretching himself at full length. In this miserable 
plight it was resolved that he should seek refuge with a 
little band of outlaws — self-outlawed to save their lives 
from the vengeful government — who had established 
themselves in the fastnesses of Glenmoriston. Thence 
they made sudden attacks upon the military, who were 
often moving about, either to hunt up fugitives, or drive 
away the cattle of the poor Jacobites ; spoil, which the 
" seven men of Glenmoriston," often forced them to yield 
up, when they least expected it. By such means as these, 
the outlaws managed to support life pretty well. Their 



THE YOTJNG CHEVALIEE. 303 

names were, Gregor Macgregor, Alexander, Donald, and 
Hugh Chisholm, John and Alexander Macdonnell, and Pat- 
rick Grant. They had all fought for Charles, and therefore, 
for his purpose were to be considered " good men and true." 

These Glenmoriston men were dangerous custo- 
mers to their enemies. One day, four of them at- 
tacked a company of seven soldiers convoying stores 
from Fort Augustus to Glenelg, and shot two of them ; 
when the other five took to their heels, leaving all the 
wine and provisions behind, to be duly carried to their 
cave in the hills by the bold outlaws. On another occa- 
sion, they reclaimed a herd of cattle, which a military 
party had seized for their own use. Posting themselves 
judiciously, they kept up so desperate a fire on the sol- 
diers, whilst they were in a narrow pass, as to drive 
them helter-skelter back again ; too glad to surrender the 
beasts, that had got them into such a scrape, as a lawful 
prey to their assailants. Of what savage acts this little 
band was capable, may be judged by their shooting down 
a shabby wretch, who busied himself in finding out such 
as had been engaged in the rebellion, that he might inform 
of them ; and after they had killed him, cutting off his 
head, which was stuck in a tree, in such a situation that all 
passers by might see it. 

It was among these fierce fellows that Charles was now 
to hide his poor head. A zealous friend had already 
opened negotiations with them, but dared not mention 



304 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

that it was for the Prince himself that he was acting. He 
only gave them to understand that concealment was 
required for two or three gentlemen who had been 
concerned in the insurrection ; and this they readily 
promised. 

A place was appointed where Charles should meet 
them ; but no sooner had they seen him, than the " odd 
face " let out the secret, and they were unbounded in their 
delight at having him among them. Three only of the 
seven were present at the first meeting, the others being 
absent on some marauding expedition. But the three 
took an oath of fidelity to the Prince ; with great deli- 
cacy declining to permit him and his friends to swear 
that they would be true to their hosts. They then joy- 
fully carried him off with them to their cave; where his 
two days' fast was broken by an abundant, though rude, 
meal of mutton, batter, and whiskey; a little stream that 
ran through the cave, supplying them with water. 

That night Charles slept safely. The four, who had 
been absent, returned next day, and they, too, swore to 
be faithful to their prince. Not a man among them 
broke that oath ; nay, so scrupulously did they keep it, 
that never to man, woman, or child, until the Prince 
had been safe in France a whole twelvemonth, did any 
one of them ever reveal the fact of his having been in 
their cave. Charles smilingly called them his Privy 
Council. 




GI.KNMOniSTON MKN SWEARING FIDELITY TO THE PltlXCE. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 305 

Tho four new comers brought home with them a 
deer, and an ox : — sumptuous living in the wilderness 
that, though they could not boast of a bit of bread to eat 
with their venison and beef. But half starved men don't 
stick at such trifles ; and sitting on the floor of their 
cave, bonneted, for fear, if surprised, of indicating the 
superior rank of the Prince, and with each one his mess 
upon his knee, they ate their rude fare with thankful 
hearts. So anxious, however, were these men to pro- 
cure any thing that they thought might minister to 
Charles's comfort, that one of them, who was despatched 
to Fort Augustus for news, was at the pains of bringing 
back with him a pennyworth of gingerbread ; which he, 
in all innocence, thought would be a special treat for the 
Prince ! How one admires the loving spirit that 
dictated this, while one smiles at the simplicity of the 
man. 

A few days were spent in this strange refuge, and 
then, in accordance with Charles's plan never to stay 
long in one place, they decamped, and took up their 
quarters in another cave, about two miles distant. The 
Prince's heather bed was here strewed for him in a sort 
of hollow, at the back of the cave. From this place he 
was soon driven by hearing of a party of militia being 
posted in the neighbourhood, and the whole party had to 
wander away in search of a fresh lodging. 

Charles remained with his new friends, who, rough as 



306 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

they were, treated him with the utmost respect and 
kindness, for about three weeks ; now in one place, now 
in another, according to the exigencies of his harassed life. 
During this time he is described as being patient, and 
uncomplaining, nay, cheerful ; though suffering much 
from squalor, disease, — ^brought on by his hard life, — 
and above all, from the dreadful uncertainty in which he 
was continually kept about his own life. So long as he 
was in Scotland, that was never safe ; and hitherto all his 
attempts to get out of the country had been fruitless. 
His clothes, which night and day could never be 
changed, were wretched and torn. He had an old wig, a 
patched neckerchief, a threadbare tartan waistcoat, a 
coarse coat, and philibeg ; his shoes were so worn out 
they w^ould scarce stick on his feet ; while his one shirt 
was as yellow as a guinea. What a costume for a royal 
prince! Fortunately he was the owner of a tolerable 
plaid in which to wrap himself. 

Amid his many miseries Charles did not forget his 
religious duties. Every morning and evening he left his 
companions for a short time, for the purpose of saying 
his prayers ; and finding (though he could not under- 
stand their language) that his pi-eservers had a sad habit 
of swearing, he made one of the gentlemen who were 
with him expostulate with them on the subject; till, at 
last, his reiterated reproofs had the effect of making them 
give it up entirely. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 307 

When the time came for him to be transferred to 
other hands, his humble Glenmoriston friends " were 
very unwilling that he should leave them." They 
pleaded with him that the " mountains of gold " which the 
English government had offered for his head, might 
tempt some gentleman to betray him ; because a gentle- 
man would afterwards go abroad, and there live securely 
on the reward of his infamy. Whereas there was no 
danger of their selling him, for they could speak no 
language but their own, and could only live in their own 
land ; where, if they were to hurt a hair of his head, the 
very hills around, would fall upon, and crush them ! 

There was a fine sense of honour in these rude 
fellows ! And there were hundreds like them among 
those noble Highlanders, high and low, who, during 
Charles's five months' wanderings, could have put 
their hands upon him, and given him up, but who 
scorned what would have been the price of blood. That 
price, from the days of Judas Iscariot downwards, has 
always been justly held in abhorrence. 

The simple, though eloquent reasoning of these faith- 
ful " outlaws," could not of course alter the Prince's plan, 
which was to work his way through the country to the 
retreat of his friends, Cameron of Lochiel, and Macpher- 
son of Cluny. They went with him as far as Loch 
Arkaig on his journey thither, and took leave of him on 
the 21st of August to return to their own wild life. 



308 PRINCE CHARLIE, 

The Prince's purse was, at this time, too empty to per- 
mit of his making any recompense to his entertainers ; 
but he afterwards found means of sending to them, by 
Patrick Grant, twenty-four guineas to be divided among 
them. 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 309 



CHAPTEK XYII. 

The state of the country did not permit of the Prince's 
proceeding direct to the hiding-place of his friends. He 
had to steal along how and when he could, by fits and 
starts ; and the first place were he pitched his tent was 
at the head of Loch Arkaig, whose tangled woods 
seemed to promise shelter. AVhile living here, two of 
the Camerons who were in search of him, one day rowed 
up the Loch without having the slightest idea of his 
being there, till they accidentally fell in with one of the 
gentlemen who were in hiding with the Prince, and who 
at once took them to him. 

The party had nearly had a warmer reception than 
would have been at all agreeable. Patrick Grant, one of 
the Glenmoriston men, who had not yet left the Prince, 
was on guard that day, and had got such a sleepy fit that 
he was quite unaware of any one's approach, till the 
Camerons were jilmost close upon him. Not knowing 
the two strangers, he supposed them to be a party of the 
enemy, and called out to Charles to fly instantly to the 



310 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

woods. This he refused to do, proposing instead, that 
when the advancing party got near enough, they should 
all let fly at them, with their firearms, from behind the 
rocky fragments that lay close to the hut. The surprise 
of a shower of bullets coming thus, from no one knew 
whom, would he thought be sufficient to drive them 
back, or at least so confuse them that they might be 
afterwards dealt with, hand to hand. No sooner said 
tlian done ; each one took his post behind the natural 
rampart, and levelled his musket at the supposed enemy. 
Happily before a trigger was drawn, Charles's friend, 
who was leading the two Camerons to his retreat, was 
recognised. Down dropped the muzzles that had been 
pointed at them, and with great delight the Prince 
welcomed the brothers of his beloved Lochiel, thanking 
God over and over again for the good news that they 
brought of his being recovering from his wounds. The 
Prince's party had killed a cow the day before, so with 
the roasted beef, and some bread, brought by the Came- 
rons, they made a cheerful dinner together. 

Charles was now very anxious to continue his journey 
to Lochiel, who, as has been said, was in comparative 
safety in Badenoch ; and next day they all set out in that 
direction. Their first stage landed them in a wood near 
Auchnacary, where Lochiel had lived. His house here, 
like the rest, had been destroyed, so that there was no 
shelter for them there. The Prince and his friends wan- 



THE TOUNa CHEVALIER. 311 

dered about here for four days, waiting till it should be 
safe for them to proceed. Suddenly an alarm was raised 
of a large military force having been seen in the neigh- 
bourhood. It was too true ; the fact of the Prince's 
whereabouts had by some means oozed out, and there 
svere two hundred of the militia, under Captain Grant, 
come to catch him. Charles rose quietly when he was 
waked by this stunning intelligence, took his musket, 
called his friends around him, they were eight altogether, 
and firmly announced his determination, in case they 
were attacked, to fight it out to the last, and be killed, 
rather than taken. He was a pretty good shot, he said, 
and not apt to miss his mark. It was possible, however, 
that they might give their pursuers the slip ; and with 
this design they crept cautiously through the intricate 
woods, and over the rugged hills, till they had placed a 
sufficient tract of wild country between themselves and 
the enemy. They fancied themselves now in a safer 
place ; though what was, and what was not safe, had long 
been a hard matter to tell. Having spent the day here, 
without a morsel to eat, they were cheered by a message 
brought them by one of the young Camerons of Clunes, 
that his father would meet them at night with provisions, 
at a certain spot some distance off. They set out to the 
appointed place, traversing, in the dark, some of the most 
rugged, and painful paths the Prince had yet encountered. 
The sharp rocks, and splintery stumps of trees tore their 



312 PEINCE CHAELIE, 

clothes to slireds as they laboured on, and even inflicted 
severe wounds upon their bodies, but they dared not 
draw back for these things. At last, fainting with ex- 
haustion, Charles was obliged to be dragged along be- 
tween two of the party, who were not quite so worn out 
as himself; and in this fashion they succeeded in reaching 
their journey's end. It was some comfort, in their fam- 
ishing condition, to find that Clunes had a good supply of 
beef for their supper : — or rather breakfast, dinner, and 
supper, rolled into one. There would be no complaints 
of that beef not being tender ! After a day or two's rest 
in this spot, one of the Camerons came to tell the Prince 
that the pressing danger, from which he had fled, had 
passed away, and now there was a better chance for his 
getting to Lochiel. Over hill, moor, and dale accordingly 
he travelled to, the place of his friend's concealment in 
Badenoch, on the borders of Athol. Lochiel, the brave 
chief of the Camerons, together with two of the Macpher- 
sons, had been living there for four months. Many in 
the neighbourhood were aware of the place of their con- 
cealment, and there was a strong military post not many 
miles from them ; but none had ever disturbed them. 
These gentlemen had been better oft' than their unfortu- 
nate master ; for though packed together in a mere hut, 
they had had provisions enough, and they had managed 
to have their servants with them. 

Charles and Lochiel really loved each other, and their 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 313 

meeting was a joyful one to both. Lame as he was from 
wounds received at Culloden, the loyal chief would have 
kneeled to his prince, had not Charles prevented him, 
pleasantly remarking that they knew not who might be 
overlooking them, even from the tree tops ; and homage 
rendered in that manner, would inevitably betray its 
object. Then entering the hut, the contents of a well- 
stocked larder were placed before the Prince. Mutton, 
beef, ham, butter, and cheese, with whiskey, — there was a 
specimen of the luxurious doings at the hut, while Charles 
had been starving up and down that wild country. Some 
mutton was immediately cooked for him, in their one 
saucepan of all work ; and for lack of a dish, he was fain 
to eat it out of the pan. But he had a silver spoon, instead 
of his fingers, and in the gaiety of his heart, as he munch- 
ed his mutton, he exclaimed, " Now gentlemen, I live like 
a Prince ! " He prefaced the meal with a good drink of 
whiskey, and repeated the draught pretty often. Poor 
fellow, so much hunger, cold, wet, and fatigue were likely 
enough to lead to whiskey drinking ! 

Having well fed their royal guest, the next thing to 
which his hospitable entertainers applied themselves was 
to find him some shirts, of which, as we have seen, he 
was desperately in want. The sisters of Macpherson of 
Cluny with right good will took this little matter in hand, 
and it was not long before their nimble fingers set him up 
with something like a suitable equipment of clean linen, 
14 



314 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

O the comfort of that to one who had been used to it all 
his life, and then had been suddenly reduced to a clean 
shirt, once a fortnight, and that did duty by night as well 
as day ! 

The whole party remained here for a few days in com- 
parative comfort ; and then moved off to very singular 
quarters in one of the rough, high rocky points that are 
included in the mountain range known as Ben Alder. It 
was a kind of hut in the face of the rock, concealed by a 
thicket ; and in its construction advantage was skilfully 
taken of the natural peculiarities of the situation. Trunks 
of trees were laid to form the floor, the interstices being 
filled up with earth and stones, so as to make all firm and 
level. Then the trees growing around this space so level- 
led, having first been strengthened by having poles driven 
into the ground among them, were in a sort tied, or 
woven together by withes of twisted heath and birch ; the 
whole being finished off with a thatch at top. It was this 
mode of construction, together with its form, that occa- 
sioned its being called the Cage, and indeed it was not 
unlike a bird-cage on a large scale. A couple of stones, 
lying ready there, served for a fireplace ; the smoke find- 
ing its way out, as in most Highland huts, as it best could. 
It just served to hold six or seven persons, who between 
cooking their food, playing cards, and dawdling about, 
managed to get through the weary day. 

The Prince's deliverance, however, was now near at 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIEE. 315 

hand. The anxiety of his father, and of his friends in 
France, during his five months' painful wanderings in the 
Western Isles, and Highlands, had been very great, but 
their efforts for his rescue had hitherto been unavailing. 
They were now to be more successful. In the beginning 
of September two vessels were despatched to cruise about 
on the western coast of Scotland till an opportunity 
should occur of communicating with the Prince, and, if 
possible, of getting him on board. These vessels cast 
anchor in Lochnanuagh on the 6th of the month, and by 
great good fortune contrived to make their presence there 
known to the Prince in his retreat, within a week of their 
arrival. That very night, accompanied by Lochiel, 
Cluny, and others, he set out for the coast, in such frisky 
spirits with the good news he had received as to play off 
a practical joke on one of his followers, whom he startled 
so effectually, that the poor fellow fell fainting " in a pud- 
dle at the door of their hut ! " To think of the Prince 
having so much life left in him after all ! 

Travelling by night, he rested the next day at Corvoy, 
where for some time he and his companions amused them- 
selves by throwing their bonnets into the air, and shoot- 
ing at them to see which was the best marksman. As 
they pursued their route they were " brought up " by the 
river Lochy, and the difficulty was how to cross it ; for 
of all the boats that the great chief of the Cameron s had 
once owned, only one had been left undestroyed by the 



316 PKINOE CHARLIE, 

avenging soldiery, and that was such an old thing that 
they were rather afraid of trusting the Prince to its crazy 
sides. Bad as it was, however, there was no better ; it was 
that or none ; so they stepped cautiously in, and it held to- 
gether till the whole party got over in three trips. It leaked 
sadly, and on the last trip, some unlucky movement smashed 
their three remaining bottles of brandy in the bottom of 
the boat. This was rather a serious loss ; though the acci- 
dent was turned to account by the boatmen and servants, 
who drank up the mixture of leakage and brandy with 
such hearty good will, as to make themselves half tipsy. 
And vexed as they were, their masters could not help 
laughing at the ridiculous things the men did and said 
after emptying this extraordinary punch-bowl, — a leaky 
old boat. Charles wanted a little brandy himself; but 
as it had been all drunk up in this fashion, of course he 
had to go without it. 

The country through which they passed had been so 
sorely ravaged and plundered by the military that they 
would have had to go short of meat, as well as drink, but 
for the forethought of one of the Prince's friends, who 
had placed a small store of that everlasting oatmeal in the 
house of a faithful follower that lay in the way. This 
was made into cakes for Charles's arrival, and as a cow 
was also killed, they had that night a hearty supper of 
beef and bread to go to sleep upon. No fear of night- 
mare after such a day's tramp as theirs. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 317 

The Prince and his party were seven days in travel- 
ling from the Cage in Badenoch to their haven of refuge 
in Lochnanuagh, arriving there on the 19th of September. 
They went on board ship immediately ; but as the news 
of French vessels being in the bay had drawn towards the 
neighbourhood many of Charles's ruined followers, who, 
like himself, were seeking safety in flight, he ordered the 
ships to be detained for one day, to give them a share of 
his chance. Happily his generous thought for these 
fugitives brought no harm to himself; the vessels re- 
mained unmolested, and when at last the French com- 
mander weighed anchor, and worked his way out of the 
Loch into open water, he had on board, in addition to the 
Prince, twenty-three gentlemen and more than a hundred 
of the common people, thankful for their escape from the 
cruel hands of the Duke of Cumberland, and yet weeping 
as the rugged shores of their native land were lost to 
their sight. With most of them it was for ever ! 

Lochiel accompanied his royal master to France. 
His estate was confiscated ; yet, during the short remain- 
der of his life, his tenantry continued duly to send their 
rents to him whom they considered its rightful owner, 
while at the same time they as scrupulously paid those 
demanded by the government. His friend Cluny pre- 
ferred taking his chance in his own country, to seeking 
shelter in a foreign land. So after seeing the Prince safe 
at the place of embarkation, he returned to his hiding in 



318 



PEINCE CHAELIE. 



Badenoch, where he lived in a cave near the ruins of his 
own house, which had been burned by the soldiery. This 
cave had been hollowed out for him in the face of a rocky 
steep by his own people, who wrought at their task by 
night, to avoid observation ; tumbling the earth and 
stones that they excavated into a lake hard by, that none 
might suspect what had been going on. Had those sol- 
diers, with their sharp eyes, seen newly turned-up soil, 
they would have been sure there was some poor hunted 
Jacobite in hiding not far off, and would not have rested 
till they had unearthed him. In this cave, though a thou- 
sand pounds were offered for the taking of him, and the 
place of his retreat was known to many, Cluny managed 
to baffle his pursuers for nine long years. A company of 
soldiers were stationed in the neighbourhood, for it was 
known to government that the chief was somewhere 
there ; and military parties frequently marched in by 
way of giving fresh vigour to the search for him, but 
they only had their labour for their pains. They kept so 
good a look-out for him that on one occasion, seeing sev- 
eral people go quietly, in the dark, into a house, some of 
whose windows were closed, the officer in command, tak- 
ing for granted Cluny was concealed there, forced his way 
in at one of the closed-up windows ; and was nearly the 
death, by the fright he gave her, of a poor lady inside, 
whose illness had occasioned these suspicious circum- 
stances ! Enough to shake the life out of any invalid, to 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 319 

have an armed man bolting in at the window, and in the 
dead of night too. 

Spite of all, Cluny's comings and goings — for he visit- 
ed his friends sometimes — were done in perfect safety. 
He took the precaution of never leaving his cave except 
by night, getting back again before there was daylight 
enough to betray him. Once, when he had been spending 
the night with his friends, the military did get scent of 
him, and thought themselves sure of their prey at last. 
They made their way to the house, and would certainly 
have caught him, but that while they were breaking down 
the front door, he managed to scramble out of a window 
at the back ; and so stole to his hiding place again. Sick 
of leading so weary a life as this, with no hope of any 
better one so long as he remained on Scottish ground, 
he, too, finally got over to France, where he died the 
next year. 

One thing we may be sure of — that in the days when 
Lochiel and Cluny were rich and powerful, they did not 
abuse either their wealth, or power : else their people 
would not have so faithfully served them in their poverty 
and exile. 



320 PRINCE CHAELIE, 



n 



CHAPTEE XYni. 



The voyage from Western Scotland to France was a long 
and roundabout one. But it was performed in safety, the 
only mischance being that the little fleet that carried the 
Prince and his friends, was seen and chased by two English 
men-of-war, who fortunately lost sight of them at last in a 
fog. It was marvellous that they should have escaped the 
English cruisers ; but so it was, and Charles landed near 
Morlaix, on the north-west coast of France, nine days after 
sailing from Lochnanuagh. He rested at Morlaix for a 
couple of days, and then proceeded to Paris. His recep- 
tion there, in a manner befitting his rani?, afforded a strik- 
ing contrast to the squalor and wretchedness of the pre- 
ceding five months. As he drew near the city, a train of 
noblemen and gentlemen, at whose head rode his brother 
Henry, came out to meet him. Those brothers loved each 
other ; and when the brilliant cavalcade halted, the lad, 
(he was only one-and-twenty,) for very joy at the sight of 
him safe and sound, put his arms round Charles's neck 
and kissed him. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIER. 321 

Charles's visit to the Trench court was performed with 
much state. He was attended by a numerous retinue, and 
as for his dress, — who would have recognised the ragged, 
dirty inmate of the Highland hut, in the imposing person- 
age who, at Fontainebleau, presented himself in a rose- 
coloured velvet coat, embroidered with silver, and lined 
with what was called silver tissue, a gold brocade waist- 
coat, bespangled and bescolloped, the badges of St. George 
and St. Andrew sparkling upon his breast, and even his 
shoe-buckles and cockade all in a glitter with diamonds ? 
It was, indeed, the case altered with him now. By both 
king and queen he was received with much kindness. The 
latter had a more especial friendly feeling towards him, 
from the circumstance of his mother having been her 
friend when both were young. And the tender-hearted 
woman, queen though she was, would weep at the story 
of his adventures, which she yet loved to make him re- 
peat to herself and her ladies. 

But though received in so gratifying a manner, the 
peaceful relations then existing between the courts of 
England and France, rendered it impossible for the King 
to recognise Charles as the Prince of Wales. That was a 
title which even the French now acknowledged to be pre- 
occupied by Frederick, eldest son of George II. Had they 
given it to Charles, it would have been equal to denying 
King George's right to the crown ; and, though Louis had 
110 particular love for his English neighbour, it would not 
14* 



322 PEINCE CHARLIE, 

have been convenient to fight him. In every other re- 
spect Charles was treated as a royal prince. 

His own life safe at last after the many perils to which 
it had been exposed during his fourteen months' struggle, 
Charles's first care was for his followers. Those who had 
escaped with him to France had carried off little beside 
their lives. That was something certainly : better be an 
impoverished exile in France, than facing the block on 
Tower Hill. But the necessities of some of them were 
pressing, far beyond the means of the Prince ; and, not- 
withstanding the liberal kindness of the French government 
to their ancient, and now distressed allies, he had to plead 
for still more on their behalf. He felt so acutely that it 
was he who had brought all this ruin upon them, and was 
therefore bound, if possible, to provide for them, that he 
declared he was ready to go down on his knees to prefer 
requests for them, that he would not make for himself. 
Altogether, even now, secure, honoured, and surrounded 
by the brilliance of a court, his position was a most em- 
barrassing one. He believed himself born to a crown, he 
had utterly failed in his desperate, but heroic struggle to 
regain it ; yet it was hard, in the very prime of his man- 
hood, to abandon all hope of recovering it. By degrees, 
however, to this was he driven. With all the energy of 
his character, he urged his plea for assistance in getting 
back his ancient inheritance, first with the French monarch, 
then with that of Spain, and then, on the very verge of 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEK. 323 

despair, with the French king again. But it was all in 
vain. The Spaniards paltered with him. And as for 
Louis, not only would he do nothing for him, in the way 
of substantial aid, by men or arms, but, by little and little, 
the kindness which he had at first shown the Prince, at 
last degenerated into an irritating coldness ; he was toler- 
ated, not fostered. 

All this drove Charles nearly mad ; and though his 
father, whom age and experience, as well as natural con- 
stitution, had rendered more patient, strove to soothe 
him, he no longer heeded the parent to whom he had once 
been so dutiful. His younger brother, less impetuous^ 
soon gave up the useless struggle, and, by becoming a 
Romish priest, showed how entirely he had abandoned the 
hope of ever regaining their inheritance. Charles did not 
know what Henry was about, but when he heard of it, it 
plunged him into fresh distress, and for some time estranged 
him both from father and brother. At length his high 
spirit was stung to the quick, by his being requested 
to take himself away from France, and live — anywhere he 
pleased out of it, as his presence there impeded the ratifi- 
cation of a treaty of peace which Louis wished to conclude 
with the English. Wounded and mortified to the last 
degree, Charles met this request by a flat negative ; and 
then the French king prepared to remove him by force. 
Sighing as he signed the order for the seizure and trans- 
portation of the Prince across the frontier, Louis is said 



324: PRINCE CHARLIE, 

to have exclaimed : — " How difficult it is for a monarch to 
be a faithful friend ! *' 

The order, however, was signed ; and Charles was duly 
told that in the course of the day he would be arrested, 
and carried out of the country. The only notice he took 
of the information was to desire that an opera-box should 
be taken for him, for that night. And to the opera he 
went. There was much gathering of the populace, for of 
course the thing had got abroad, and not only was Charles 
a great favourite with the Parisians, who were anxious to 
see what would become of him, but the preparations for 
his arrest were on such a scale as to attract plenty of sight- 
seers. Such glistening of helmets and cuirasses, waving of 
plumes, jingling of spurs, and trampling of horses, were 
there ! About a thousand of the royal guard were posted 
at th-e Palais Royal, the city guard were drawn up in the 
neighbouring streets, military accoutrements in great 
plenty were to be seen glittering in thelobby of the opera- 
house, troops thronged the road to Vincennes, to which 
prison the Prince was to be conducted. It was more like 
preparing to take a town, than only one gentleman. But 
in truth it was apprehended that when the people saw their 
favourite dragged to prison, they might get up a little in- 
surrection on the spur of the moment. Hence these 
arrangements for crushing it. 

Amid all this fuss and commotion Charles, accompa- 
nied by a small retinue, drove to the opera-house. As he 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 325 

passed along, a voice in the crowd called out to him to 
return, or he would be seized ; but of course he took no 
notice of that. On his arrival, he got out of his carriage, 
but had no sooner done so, than he was seized by eight 
non-commissioned officers disguised in plain clothes, — with 
every man his cuirass beneath, for fear of accidents ! — and 
at once hurried off into the Palais Royal, where the officer, 
who commanded, told him that he was arrested in the 
name of the king. Charles quietly replied that it was 
rather a rough way of doing it ; and, when his arms were 
demanded, at once gave up his sword. They then took 
from him his pistols, dagger, and purse. A further indig- 
nity awaited him ; a cord was passed round his arms and 
limbs, and thus, a helpless log, he was thrust into a car- 
riage and driven full speed to the place of his imprisonment. 
He was there released from his bonds, and turned into 
a small, mean apartment, lighted by a skylight, and fur- 
nished with one chair, and a wretched camp bed. Round 
this hole he glanced indignantly at first, but soon softened, 
remarking that he had seen worse places in Scotland. 
He then inquired whether any of the English gentlemen 
in his suite, had been bound like himself; for Englishmen, 
he remarked, were not used to that kind of thing. When 
left alone, however, with Neil Mackechan, who had fol- 
lowed him to France, his composure forsook him, and he 
exclaimed, with strong feeling, — " Ah, my faithful moun- 
taineers ! you would not have treated me thus. Would 
that I were still with you ! " 



326 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

The Prince was detained at Vincennes for a few days, 
till, yielding to necessity, lie gave his word of honour not 
to reside in the French dominions. Then he was set at 
liberty, being taken, under a strong escort, to Avignon, 
where once more he found himself treated in a manner 
becoming his rank. It is said that the Dauphin, — that is 
the eldest son of the King of France,' — publicly quarrelled 
with his father for his unworthy treatment of the Prince ; 
— treatment Avhich, as the latter well replied to the apol- 
ogies of the officer who superintended it, inflicted disgrace, 
not upon him who suffered, but upon him who ordered it ' 

There is little more to notice in Charles's life ; but 
that little is painful. Worn out with long-continued 
disappointment, his moral character deteriorated. At 
times he drank too much. He married and proved an 
unkind husband to a young wife. Still, amid all, at 
times old affections and recollections were strong with 
him. Near forty years after his campaign in Scotland, 
and in the yqtj heart of England, a gentleman who had 
obtained access to him in his retirement at Rome, where 
he lived as Count of Albany, led the conversation to the 
stirring events of 1745 and '46. As they talked, 
the spirit of the broken-down man revived, his eye 
lighted up, as he spoke of the daring and gallant 
achievements of his devoted followers, till passing on to 
the fearful doom of so many of them, — the gallows, the 
block, and the fire, — his voice wavered, his countenance 




PAINFUL REMINISCENCES AND IHEIR EFFECTS. 



THE YOUNG CIIEVALIEK. 32Y 

changed, and he fell down in convulsions. His daughter, 
hearing, in an adjoining room, the noise of his fall, 
rushed in, and exclaimed to the visitor, — "Sir, what 
have you been doing ? You have been speaking to my 
father about Scotland and the Highlanders. No one 
dares to mention them in his presence." 

Music was a passion with Charles. At one time he 
used to spend his evenings in playing duets with a musician 
named Corri ; Corri taking the harpsichord, — an old- 
fashioned sort of pianoforte, — and the Prince the violon- 
cello ; — and occasionally he beguiled his weary hours by 
musical compositions. These musical evenings were after 
all of rather a melancholy character ; the dull, heavy 
look of the room, hung with faded red damask, and 
lighted only by a couple of candles, that gleamed faintly 
on loaded pistols lying on the table, received an 
additional tinge of gloom, from the thought of who, and 
what was its occupant. Yet his manners remained mild, 
courteous, and pleasing. 

His personal appearance, at this time, is described as 
noble and graceful, in spite of his bulky and stooping 
figure ; for he was no longer the taJl, slender youth of 
Holyrood. His light brown hair, blue eyes, and oval 
face, were still prepossessing, though there was a heavi- 
ness about the countenance, which some attributed to his 
occasional excesses in drinking. 

England and the English were always interesting to 



328 PKINCE CHARLIE, 

him. Though finally driven from her throne, he re- 
joiced in her welfare, and felt proud of her warlike 
successes, even when they were over his old friends, the 
French. He said that he regarded the glory of England 
as his own, and her glory lay in her fleet. Previous to 
his unceremonious removal from France he had a medal 
struck, which bore on one side, his own likeness, with 
the inscription, " Charles, Prince of Wales ; " on the 
reverse a figure of Britannia, with some ships, and the 
motto : — Amor et Spes Britannice — " The Love and 
Hope of Britain : " the exiled Prince lingering with fond 
affection over the " love and hope " of the very country 
that had, for ever, expelled him from her shores. Though 
it is said that more than once after his disastrous 
attempt there, Charles visited England in disguise. 

This medal, in silver and copper, was plentifully dis- 
tributed not only in England and Scotland, but upon the 
continent, and gave great offence to the French govern- 
ment, who, seeing that he was their guest, and had 
received assistance from them, by no means relished his 
avowed preference for the land of his ancestors. Charles, 
however, was too important a personage to be called to 
account for his doings. Perhaps, though, his humiliation 
at Vincennes might, in part, be a retaliation for this pro- 
vocation. 

The death of his father in 1766 made the Prmce, 
nominally. King of England, But so utterly had the 



THE YOTNG CHEVALIER. 329 

Stuart cause then sunk, that none save his servants, and 
a few of his friends, acknowledged the title. 

Age stole upon him. He became feeble and debili- 
tated, and in his sixty-eight year an attack of paralysis 
and apoplexy put an end to his life, at Rome, on the 
30th of January, 1788 : the day, and the month of the 
cruel execution of his great grandfather Charles I. His 
remains were laid in his brother's cathedral of Frascate 
in Italy, whence they were afterwards removed to St. 
Peter's at Rome. 

On the death of Charles, his brother Henry, a mild 
and amiable man, who, as has been said, early retired 
from the hopeless struggle for a crown, caused a medal 
to be struck, with this affecting inscription : on the face, 
Henricus Nonus, Rex Anglice ; on the other side, — 
Dei Gratia^ sed non voluntate hominum ! That is : — 
" Henry IX., King of England, — ^by the grace of God, but 
not by the will of man ! " 

Troubles on the continent of Europe, arising out of 
the first French revolution, reduced Cardinal York (by 
that name Henry Stuart was known) to poverty. This 
being made known in England, our good old George 
III. in the most kindly manner conferred upon his unfor- 
tunate relation a pension of four thousand pounds a year. 
It was done with feeling and delicacy, yet it was a bitter 
exchange, — a pension for a crown 1 But the Cardinal 
submitted with humility and piety to the sad reverses 



PRINCE CHARLIE, ^^^ 

that God had permitted to come upon him. He did not 
allow himself to repine at being indebted, for his very 
sustenance, to him who had deprived him of a throne ; 
but, yielding to that Higher Will that had overruled his 
own, — in the spirit of a good Christian and true gen- 
tleman, frankly and gratefully acknowledged the bounty 
of his innocent supplanter. 

The King's kind act won for him the heart, and the 
prayers too, of a staunch old Jacobite, who had had his 
share in the insurrection of 1745. Hearing his son read 
in the newspaper of what the King had done for Cardinal 
York, he started up, exclaiming : — " May God in His 
infinite mercy bless and prosper him in the throne he 
fills, and deserves so well ! and may God forgive me for 
not saying so before ! " And ever after, so long as the 
little remainder of his life held out, for he was in extreme 
age, the old gentleman prayed daily for King George. 

Cardinal York enjoyed his pension till his death in 
1807, in the eighty-third year of his age. 

This last of the Stuarts bequeathed to George IV., 
when Prince of Wales, the crown jewels that had be- 
longed to his grandfather, James II., including the badge 
of the order of the garter, worn by Charles I. It was, 
he said, all that he had, — he could leave no other legacy 
to him who was now the rightful heir of the Stuarts. 
For the death of the Cardinal made George III., king by 
inheritance from them, as before he had been by inheri- 
tance from the house of Hanover. 



THE YOUNG CHEVALIEE. 331 

The three Stuarts, father and two sons, — James 
Edward, exiled in his cradle, Charles Edward, and 
Henry Benedict, lie under the dome of St Peter's at 
Rome, beneath a monument worthy of their royal race, 
but which was raised over their ashes by the house of 
Hanover ! The inscription purports that it is to the 
memory of James III., Charles III., and Henry IX., 
Kings of England. 

So passes away the glory of this world ! Let us 
hope that these most unfortunate princes, after the long 
humiliation and agony of their mortal existence, innocent 
sufferers for the faults of another, may at last have suc- 
ceeded to a better inheritance than one of earthly crowns 
and kingdoms : — to that which is unchangeable, eternal, 
in the heavens ! 



THE END. 



ImimrtEitt |t# luteiUs, 



PUBLISHED BT 



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TWO NEW JUVENILES, 

BY THE AUTHOK OF THE " HEIR OF EEDCLYFFE." 

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D. Appleton & Co.''s Juvenile Pu'oUcations. 

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I. 
A WINTER WREATH OF SUMMER FLOWERS. By 
S. G. GooDRion. 1 vol. 8vo. clotli, illuminated, gilt 
edges. Price $2 50. 

From the Boston Transcript, 
A very handsome Souvenir for girls, printed, bound, and illustrated la 
tn exquisite manner. It consists of alternate verse and prose, ente»"tain- 
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End we believe the only one intended for the same class of readers that has 
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Lay down your books, John, Tom and Bob ; 

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